Home Is Where Your Love Is
by HerenyaHope
Summary: Tavros had always been afraid of the world and everyone in it. So what convinced him to take in the homeless bard living in his alley? AU gamtav rated T for language and future sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: NEW FIC Y'ALL! ****I absolutely adore PBJ, and wanted to add my own cake to the bakery of love ^w^ Any who, on with the story!**

The moment he knocked on the door, Tavros was terrified. As he waited for his knock to be noticed, the young man spent the time questioning his actions, as well as his sanity. For the last two days, his neighbours across the hall from him in his apartment had been partying nonstop. There was music blasted to full volume, people continuously poured in and out of the apartment, and the collective buzz of shouted conversations and drunken declarations sounded more like a buzzing hive than actual humans. For the last two nights, Tavros got no sleep whatsoever, as the tune blaring and obnoxious ruckus went on until well past 4 am. It wasn't until the third night that the meek young man finally gathered up the courage to confront his noisy neighbours. At least, the closest thing to confrontation that Tavros was capable of. In hindsight, he would probably applaud himself for going so far out of his comfort zone to actually speak his mind, but at the time he was shaking with dread.

As he waited for some indication his knock had been heard, he wondered what on earth he was there to demand. He knew that he couldn't get them to end the party, and he doubted that telling them to keep their voices down would do any good, and would most likely end up in injury. So he decided to start small: ask them to turn down the music. It would most likely be like fixing a dam with a sticker, but it was something, and anything at this point would be a relief to the young man.

It became clear after five minutes that his knock was not heard over the sound of music and partying. He almost turned around and returned to his apartment in defeat, resigning to another sleepless night. However, in another out-of-character act of bravery, he used his whole fist to pound on the door. Once more he waited, staring at the faded red door as if hell lay just on the other side of it. It appeared this time they heard him, for the door swung open revealing a gentleman sporting a mullet, brandishing both a beer and a sour expression.

"Who's there?" The man swung his head side-to-side to look for the one who knocked.

"U-u-um, down h-here," Tavros said quietly. The man looked down, finally realizing that the young man was out of his line of sight, due to his wheelchair. Tavros felt especially puny as the burly man eyed him.

"What you want, kid?" Tavros heard the irritation in the man's voice and felt both his tongue and his confidence shrivel up. He had no idea what to say, and his wide brown eyes were big as dinner plates and he looked like a gaping fish. The mulleted man began to look annoyed with Tavros' silence, which only made it worse for the handicapped boy who was still trying to remember how to speak.

"W-w-w-well you see it-t-t-t's uh, uh I…"

"Spill it out kid," the man said impatiently. Tavros felt his cheeks grow hot but he tried his best to continue.

"Um well it's ju-just that-"

"What, just what?"

"I-I don't like y-y-your music…"

"The fuck's wrong with my music?!"

"N-nothing! Nothing's wrong w-with it!"

"That's what I thought."

"B-but, I mean if you d-do-don't mind…"

"'Kay later wheels."

"It would be nice if you c-c-c-could-"

_Slam!_

"…turn it down." Tavros stared at the door with the look of a kicked puppy. Sighing sadly, the handicapped boy turned his wheelchair and rolled back to his apartment. The loud metal music sounding behind him seemed to mock him, taunting him for his failed attempt at a simple human interaction.

Once safely back in his own apartment, Tavros ran his hands through his fluffy brown mohawk, and groaned in embarrassment.

Tavros Nitram, age 23, was a prime example of a person with little skill in basic social interaction. He was quiet, timid, and what little self-confidence he had was terminal. The incident with the mullet man was just the latest in his conversational blunders. He thought about how such a simple action such as asking someone to turn down their music down should not be that hard. In frustration he hit his fists on his legs, but of course since his paralyzed legs could not feel the strike, the gesture was meaningless.

With another sigh at his self-brought disrepute, Tavros wheeled himself into his room and pushed himself onto his bed, flopping down face first. While on the bed he shed himself of his clothes until he was just in his boxers. He didn't wear pyjamas because of the hassle that changing was. He wormed his way under the covers, and then felt around under the blankets until his hand found his tiny stuffed cow. He knew that it was childish that he still slept with the old thing, and usually just kept it in the bed. However, today he felt like he needed the comfort of the beloved creature closer than the other side of the bed. He clutched the white stuffed animal in one hand, and with the other he reached for the other pillow and put it over his head. Even though it would do little to muffle the sound of the blaring music, he felt that he should at least make an effort. So once more, Tavros prepared himself for another night of restless sleep.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: SO ENDS CHAPTER ONE!**** I know obviously not a lot happened here, but I usually like to dip my toes into the water of a story instead of just diving right in. Sorry also for it being so short. I'm known for really long chapters but I felt like it needed to end there. Don't worry, they won't all be like that :0) Leave me comments and reviews of what you thought of chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELLO LOVELIES! **

**This is chapter two and I am proud of my ability to make this up on the spot. Not that I didn't put any effort into this, but I just can't believe I was able to come up with a whole chapter so quickly! Any who on with the story!**

The next day started with Tavros prying open his sleep-crusted eyes. He managed to fall asleep quicker than he thought he would, though he supposed it was the exhaustion of the last few nights building up that had helped in that.

He let out a long yawn, the action bringing forth the rest of the exhaustion that had yet to wake up along with him. Sluggishly, he untangled himself from his beloved blankets, already missing their warmth. He pulled himself to the edge of the bed and pushed himself into a sitting position. He stared down at his legs, as they dangled off the bed. Thoughtlessly, he pinched his thigh, expecting to feel the sting of his nails digging into his skin.

He felt nothing.

It was like the limbs belonged to someone else. He didn't know why he expected anything different, as if one day he would wake up and magically regain the feeling in his legs. Still, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Sighing, he grabbed his wheelchair and pulled it towards him, before hopping into it. He checked his alarm clock and saw that he had overslept, not long enough to be late, but there was no way he had time for a shower. He wheeled himself over to his dresser and grabbed his clothes. He grabbed a pair of baggy cargo shorts and pulled them over his legs, lifting his hips to get them all the way up. Most of his trousers were loose and or stretchy, to make it easier to fit them over his legs. He put on a white t-shirt and over that went a sweater with orange and brown stripes. After putting on his brown flip-flops and fluffed up his mohawk, he grabbed his wallet and keys and rolled out of his apartment.

As he rolled by the apartment of his neighbour he chose not to make eye contact with the worn out red door lest he be reminded of his failure the other night. Riding down the elevator, he pulled out his phone and noticed several text messages from his co-worker. During the ride down he read through the fifteen messages that had blown up his phone. Most of them were incomprehensible babbling and or emoticons that he really didn't feel like deciphering; since it was likely she was going to repeat it all once he actually reached work.

He got out of the elevator and rolled into the old lobby of his building. The room was minimal at best, all worn furniture and stale air-freshener. The only indication of the landlord attempting to spruce up the room was a fresh plant planted in the cracking pot. Tavros' wheelchair made rolling noise as it passed over the grout of the worn tiles.

Exiting the building, Tavros used the wheelchair ramp and started his trek to his job. It was almost eight o'clock, so the sky was still a mix of pale blue and pink, and the air was still crisp with the morning coolness. Tavros was grateful there weren't too many people out yet as he rolled down the sidewalk. The couple people who were out passed by him with only a small glance in his direction, which he was used to. It was hard for him to get around the city, since he couldn't drive and he wasn't signed up for any of the handicap buses. Luckily for him his job was just down the street and there was a little grocery store near it, so he didn't have to go too far for food.

As he neared the corner he thought he heard music being played. As he reached the end of the sidewalk, not only was his thought proven right, but he found out where the music originated from.

He was one of the strangest people Tavros had ever seen. He was a tall, gangly specimen of a man, with arms and legs that looked too long for his body. He was wearing a grey, washed out hoodie that may have been purple once, with a whole mess of unkempt black hair creeping out from under the hood. He had black skinny jeans with paint splattered all over them as if the intent was to create grey polka dots. What stood out the most though was his face. He may have been a handsome young man, but it was hard to tell since his face was painted up like a clown. Most of his face was white, but around his eyes and mouth it was dark grey. The paint looked smeared and was starting to chip, giving the impression that it had been a while since it had been touched up.

This strange man was playing on a beat-up acoustic guitar, the pale brown wood covered in designs that looked like they were scribbled on with sharpie. The man was sing along as he strummed on the well-worn instrument, and that's what made Tavros stop and listen. His voice was far from angelic, though it wasn't terrible; it was actually quite gravelly, like he was a smoker. Still, despite its rather rough sound, the clown man's voice had a certain melodic quality to it, almost a smooth sort of growl, like bourbon.

_Your lips are nettles,_

_Your tongue is wine._

_Your laughter's liquid,_

_But your body's pine._

_You love all sailors,_

_But hate the beach._

_You say come touch me_

_But you're always out of reach..._

It wasn't just the man's voice that had caught Tavros' attention, but just the look on his face. Underneath the makeup the clown man had the biggest of grins plastered on his lips, and his eyes were crinkled up in delight as he sang his heart out. Normally Tavros would have found somebody who looked like him rather intimidating, or even scary, but the way he looked like he was having the time of his life singing on a street corner made him look so harmless, though still strange looking.

_In the dark you tell me of the flower,_

_That only blooms in the violet hour!_

The man was practically bouncing with each strum of his guitar, doing a little dance while he stood in place. The rather playful song had Tavros humming along.

_Your arms are lovely,_

_Yellow and rose._

_Your back's a meadow,_

_Covered in snow._

_Your thigh's are thistles,_

_And hot-house grapes._

_You breathe your sweet breath_

_And have me wait._

The others who passed by paid no attention to the clown, unless they were staring at his strange appearance. Tavros was so enraptured by the singing clown that he didn't realize the sidewalk was starting to fill up.

_In the dark you tell me of the flower._

_That only blooms in the violet hour._

The young man only realized he had become a roadblock when he suddenly found himself being flung from his chair. Tavros let out a less than manly squeak when his face met concrete, and once out of his chair he began to panic.

"Son of a bitch!" Tavros looked up and saw a middle aged business-looking man with coffee spilled all over a rather expensive looking white shirt, who was glaring daggers at the young man.

"Are you blind?! Don't sit there in the middle of the street!"

"Uh I-I-I…" Tavros didn't know what to say, and when he looked for his chair he saw it had been turned over, and struggled to get it back up. He felt anxiety rising in him as the man continued to yell at him as he futilely tried to upright his chair with one hand, the other he used to prop himself up with.

"Hey man, back the fuck up!" Tavros heard somebody yelling at the man, but he couldn't really decipher any of it. He felt totally helpless there on the ground, unable to do anything about it. He jumped when he felt a large, bony hand grab his shoulder.

"Whoa there bro, didn't mean to make you jump and shit!"

Tavros looked back and was surprised to find the clown man staring at him.

"Uh…uh…"

"Here bro, I got this." Without a word the musician grabbed Tavros' wheelchair and put it right-side up. Tavros was trying to figure out what was going on, when something even stranger happened. He let out a yelp when in one fell swoop the strange man scooped him up in his arms and placed him back in his chair. If he wasn't busy stammering like an idiot he would have thought it bizarre that the seemingly beam-pole of a man had been able to lift him without effort.

"You okay bro?"

"I-I um…"

"Here, let's get you out of the traffic zone." Once again without warning, the guy grabbed the handles of Tavros' chair and pushed him near the side of the building and away from the pedestrians. Usually Tavros would have openly objected to anyone handling his chair for him without his permission, but he was so frazzled the thought didn't even occur to him.

"Hellooo?" A sing-songy voice called out. Tavros blinked and saw the clown staring at him, waiting for a response. The young man gulped and finally got his voice to work again.

"Th-thanks," he whispered.

"No problem man," the clown said grinning. "I don't know what that motherfucker's problem was. Shit was just a lil' coffee on a shirt, ain't nothin' to flip out over. Now if it had gotten into the dude's eyes I would understand, cause that shit hurt something wicked, but it didn't so he needed to calm his tits."

Tavros was surprised by the man's profanity, and the rather casual way he said it.

"Y-yeah," Tavros replied, not knowing what else to say.

"So what's your name bro?" the clown asked. Tavros was about to reply when he felt his phone buzz and saw a text from his co-worker asking where he was. That's when he saw he only had five minute to get to work.

"Crap!" Tavros stuffed his phone into his pocket and began speeding down the street.

"S-sorry, and thanks again!" he called back to the mysterious man. As he raced to work he thought he could hear the sound of music picking up again.

_I turn the lights out,_

_I clean the sheets._

_You change the station,_

_Turn up the heat._

_And now you're sitting,_

_Upon your chair._

_You've got me tangled up,_

_Inside your beautiful black hair..._

_In the dark you tell me of the flower,_

_That only blooms in the violet hour._

_In the dark you tell me of the flower,_

_That only blooms in the violet hour!_

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: AND SO ENDS CHAPTER DOS!**** Who was that mysterious clown who saved Tavvy? (ha! As if I have to say anything!) Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun with this fic so a new chapter should be up soon! The song in this chapter is called Violet Hour by Sea Wolf for those who want to know. Reviews and comments are most appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: CHAPTER THREE MY LOVELIES!**

**This one is a bit longer but I felt like writing a bit more. Any who, on with the story!**

Tavros saw the door quickly approaching. If he hadn't stuck his hand out to catch himself he would have smashed right against the glass door. He wrenched the door open and slowly rolled in, all the while catching his breath.

"I'm...here," Tavros panted. Despite not being able to walk, he felt like he just ran a marathon.

"Tav what happened? You never run late," A usually cheery voice asked with concern.

"Nothing Nep, just running a little late," Tavros lied. He didn't want to worry Nepeta with what happened to him this morning. Then again, it was only a half-lie, since he had been slightly late to begin with. Nepeta seemed satisfied with the answer, for which Tavros was grateful, and handed him his work apron.

Nepeta was one of the few people Tavros was relatively comfortable around, and made working at the small pet store much more fun than it already was. He found her easy to talk to, perhaps because he never had to say much; she usually eclipsed the conversation with her endless stream of chatter. The boisterous girl was very tiny for her age, making her look more like she was fifteen rather than a twenty-year-old. She had a round face covered in freckles and large green eyes that always seemed to gleam with mischief. She kept her short curly black hair tamed under a blue beanie hat with cat ears and a cat face on it.

"I'm going to refill all the water bowls," she told him as she walked to the back of the pet shop. Tavros tied his apron around his waist and took his place behind the counter. He liked working at the pet shop. For one, it was a peaceful place, aside from the collective noise of animals, and two, he got to spend all day with animals, not to mention working with someone like Nepeta was nice. The only problem was that since he was allergic to cats he had to stay away from that part of the shop. Normally someone with pet allergies wouldn't be hired somewhere where they would be exposed to them 24/7, but the owner had taken pity on Tavros, and Nepeta was the one who took care of the cats anyway. While an animal lover like Tavros, Nepeta was clearly someone who would grow up to be a crazy cat lady.

The air was strong with the unique smell the shop had. It was a combination of freshly mopped floors and Clorox muddled with pet food and the meaty smell of pet treats. The front of the store where Tavros manned the counter was where all the pet food, accessories and care products were displayed, and all the animals were in the back. It could be a bit of a hassle with just two people on staff, but Tavros was quick with transactions and Nepeta was a whirlwind of helpful exuberance. Tavros was organizing the cash register when Nepeta came barrelling towards him.

"TavTavTavTavTavTavTAAAAAAAAAV!"

"What?" he gasped, almost dropping the change in his hand.

"I forgot to tell you! You have GOT to see what came in!" She grabbed his chair and quickly wheeled him passed the pet food and near the dogs.

"Look!" Tavros' eyes widened and he felt a grin spread on his face.

"Awwww!" Inside a medium cage with an open lid, was a baby pot-belly pig. The little thing was about the size of a small dog, with pale pink skin and stubby little hooves.

"He's adorable!"

"I know!" Nepeta squealed.

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't know where, but the boss said that he's going to be here for a few days before they ship him to a petting zoo," Nepeta explained.

Tavros wheeled closer to the cage and reached his hand in. The piglet was curled up in the corner of the cage, sitting in a pile of hay.

"Hey there little guy," the young man whispered. The piglet perked up and lifted his head, ears twitching. He let out a little snort, wriggling his nose, to which Nepeta 'awed.' Tavros wiggled his finger, trying to coax the piglet over. At seeing the hand in his cage, the little pig stood up and trotted over to Tavros' hand, giving it a curious sniff. Nepeta giggled at the look on Tavros' face when the piglet started to lick the young man's fingers, making tiny grunting noise as he did so.

"I guess he likes you," she chuckled.

"I guess," he said absentmindedly, focused on the adorable animal playing with his fingers. The chime of the door announced the arrival of the day's first customer, and Tavros was forced to tear himself away from the piglet and return to his place at the counter.

The rest of the day was rather ordinary. There were a couple people who came in for pet food or some random pet item, who came in and out rather quickly. There were a lot of people who came in and browsed the various animals they had there, but Tavros had a feeling most of them were "lookey-loos." Tavros didn't really mind the people who only came in to look at or pet the animals. While he wished that they would take one of the pets home, it was still nice that the animals got attention.

As the day died down the last of the people had filtered out and Nepeta and Tavros were lounging around until closing time.

"So I got a call from the boss," she said as she played with one of the cats. She was poking her finger through the slots in the cage and letting the beast attack her finger with its tiny paws and teeth.

"What did he say?" Tavros asked as he petted the piglet.

"He said that the other guys can't make it tomorrow, so guess who's been left with tank duty?"

Tavros groaned. Though each tank in the aquarium section had filters that kept them clean, every three weeks they still had to go and clean each tank manually. It took forever since it was just Nepeta reaching in and cleaning the tanks, while Tavros sat with the fish in a plastic bag in his lap. He would help, but the tanks were too high for him to reach in.

"Great," he mumbled, scratching behind the piglet's ear.

"Yeah, it's PAWsitivly painful," Nepeta replied, with one of her cheesy cat puns. The two talked some more, though it was mostly Nepeta going on about her roommate almost getting hit by a car, with Tavros commenting every now and then. Sometimes Tavros wondered where on earth Nepeta got all of her energy from. From her job at the store, to her college courses, to her volunteer work at the animal shelter, she should have been a walking zombie. But every day she came in, always cheerful and always talking.

They were startled by the sound of thunder booming.

Tavros moaned. "Oh, please don't be raining!" The two walked/rolled to the store front, and through the large front window they could clearly see the rain that had begun to fall from the bleak sky.

"Ah man," Tavros sighed, thinking about the miserable trip he'll have wheeling home in the rain.

"Did you bring an umbrella?" Nepeta asked. Tavros shook his head.

"You silly head!" She teased, ruffling his mohawk. She skipped to the back of the store and came back twirling an umbrella.

"Here, you can use mine!" she said, handing him the umbrella.

"What about you?" he asked, knowing that she didn't drive and had to walk to the bus-stop.

"I think the owner keeps a spare under the counter," she said. She dove under the counter and came back up with a dark blue umbrella.

"Bingo!" she cheered.

"I can just bring it back tomorrow." Nepeta glanced up at the clock.

"Oh man, we had better lock up. Equius will be wondering what's taking me so long!"

"Yeah, you better not keep him waiting." Tavros had only met Nepeta's roommate a couple of times when he visited the store, and from those few encounters Tavros decided that he was not the type of person you wanted to keep waiting. Nepeta insisted that he was "Just the FURendliest sweetheart ever!", but that was the last thing Tavros thought when he was cowering under the man's stare. He never actually did anything to Tavros, but he always felt uneasy around the dark-skinned brute of a man, as he did with most people.

Tavros helped Nepeta lock up and the two part ways, with Nepeta walking to her bus-stop, and Tavros rolling to his apartment. Tavros was certain he looked rather silly with Nepeta's umbrella, which was covered in kittens wearing raincoats and rain boots. He put it behind him so that it was between his back and the back of his chair, so that his head was covered and he was free to use his hands to push his chair. He saw that his feet and half of his lap were getting wet, but he couldn't feel it, so he was really just annoyed at his pants getting wet.

His apartment was just in sight, and as he rolled passed the side alley he thought he heard a noise. He stopped, immediately tensing. At first he thought it might have been an animal, but when he turned what he saw was obviously a human shaped silhouette crouched by the trash bags. He was ready to roll the heck out of there, when he noticed the man's pants. They were splattered with grey polka-dots. Curious, he ignored his pounding heart and hesitantly wheeled closer to the alley, eyeing the huddled individual.

"Uh...hello?" Tavros called out meekly. Slowly the person lifted their head, and it was indeed the clown man from that morning.

"H-hey...four-wheeled bro…" he said through clacking teeth. It was then Tavros realized the man was shivering, and that his faded hoodie was now dark with rain.

"Um, w-what are you uh doing?" Tavros asked.

"Ah you know, just chillin', trying to beat this motherfuckin downpour the upstairs neighbours be sendin'" he replied, wiping paint out of his eyes. His face paint had gotten wet and was now streaming down his face, more muddled and smeared than before.

"Why don't uh...you go home?" asked Tavros.

"Can't really go back, got evicted."

"You were evicted?"

"Well, not technically." the clown smirked with a shrug.

"Can a motherfucker really be evicted from a bridge?"

"I...don't understand." Tavros had an inkling of what the man was implying, but he was hoping it wasn't true.

"Yeah I had a nice setup. It was one of those little bridges in the park. It was right next to the bathrooms which was nice 'cause I didn't have to shit in the bushes, plus I could sit next to the heater when it got cold. But these cops started hanging around there and they started eyeing me. They hadn't said anything yet, but I knew it was only a matter of fucking time, so I high-tailed it."

Tavros felt a pit in chest.

'_So I was right, he's living on the streets.' _

"S-so you're homeless?" asked, even though he already knew.

"Nah man!" he sat up and spread his arms, as if expecting a hug.

"I'm no motherfuckin' hobo, I'm a bard!"

"Bard?"

"Exactly my four-wheeled bro. I'm the melody maker, the story sayer. Motherfuckers wished they could hear the stuff that goes on in my head."

"I see…" Tavros remembered the song he heard from that morning.

"That song you were playing this morning...it-it was really nice."

"Really?" The smile on the clown's face looked like he just got the best news he ever heard in his life.

"Thanks bro! I'm glad I could make a motherfucker happy."

"Y-you're really good."

"Thanks man, but really I'd be nothing without my miracle-maker."

After seeing the look of confusion on Tavros' face, the clown started digging between the trash bags and pulled out something. It was a black guitar case that had definitely seen better days. Most of it was covered in duct tape, which seemed to be the only thing holding the case together.

"This is it, my miracle-maker. A bard ain't a bard if he ain't got something to spread his magic with," he said, stroking the case lovingly. Tavros saw the way he looked at the decrepit case, that was so useless that he had to put it under trash bags to keep the rain out, how his bony hands grazed the ratty material, and realized it was probably the most valuable thing he owned.

Tavros also saw that the clown's shivering hadn't stopped also, and that it looked like it had been a while since the guy had gotten a decent meal.

The moment the thoughts started to creep up, Tavros started to mentally scold himself for thinking such things.

_'That's crazy!'_ He told himself.

'_You don't know this guy! He could be a rapist, or a serial killer! He could be waiting to cut off your head and make-out with it or something!' _

Tavros started to tune out the thoughts as he looked back to the clown. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest knowing the guy out here in the rain, and not to mention he somewhat owed him after that morning.

Despite everything telling him not to, Tavros found himself asking, "D-d-d-do you need a p-p-p-place to st-t-tay?"

The clown cocked his head, like a confused puppy.

"I-I-I-I mean it's raining and it won't b-be letting up soon so if you wanna…" As he continued talking his voice got quieter and quieter.

"You could stay with me for the night," he said in the faintest of whispers. He held his head down, but yelped when two hands grabbed his shoulders. His head shot up and he saw the clown was staring at him with the darkest blue eyes Tavros had ever seen.

"You serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Y-yeah?" Tavros squeaked. The clown's smile could have outdone the sun.

"Thanks bro! I mean wow I just-thanks man!" Tavros found himself the victim of a bone crushing hug as the clown prattled on about his gratitude. Before he could pass out from lack of air, the man let go of him and picked up his guitar case.

"Is this your apartment?" he asked, pointing to the building.

"Y-yes," Tavros stuttered still trying to recover from the sudden lack of oxygen.

"Alright, lead the way," said the clown with a wave. Tavros saw the water drip from the man's sleeves and remembered how soaked he was.

"Here." He handed the clown Nepeta's cat covered umbrella. It wouldn't help since he was already soaked, but he thought the clown might appreciate no more rain falling on him.

"But you'll get wet," said the man as he took the umbrella.

"I'll be fine, it's just to there," Tavros assured him, though he could already feel the rain droplets flattening his mohawk and seeping through his clothes.

The two walked the short distance to the building door. The clown walked very close to Tavros' wheelchair, leaning almost completely over him so that both were under the umbrella. Though he appreciated the gesture, Tavros was a bit uncomfortable with the close contact. He chose to ignore the clown's smell, which declared it had been a looooong time since he'd bathed.

It was as they approached the elevator that Tavros' internal panic began to pick up again. This was so unlike him, he wondered if he had been possessed. He clenched the wheels of his chair a little tighter, and hoped his new companion hadn't noticed his lightly tanned skin had gone pale. Every possible reason for him not to do this began to pile up in his head, and his heart was beating in tune to the fast clacking of his chair over the tiles. He was considering backing out until he was snapped out of his mental debate by the clown.

"What floor man?" he asked, hand hovering over the elevator buttons.

Tavros gulped.

"Th-three," he forced out, sealing his fate. The elevator came and the two males stepped inside. As they rose they sat in an awkward silence, at least, it was awkward for Tavros, he had no idea how the other felt. He sat with his head down, picking at a hang-nail on his thumb.

"Soooo." Tavros looked up when the clown spoke.

"I realized that I never got your motherfuckin' name this morning."

Tavros stiffened. In his mind he was slapping himself, and it took all of his will power not to start doing in real life. He had invited a total stranger, who he had just met this morning, and knew NOTHING about-

-and he didn't even know the man's name.

He was really starting to question his sanity.

"M-my names T-T-Tavros Nitram," he answered.

"Tavros Nitram…" the clown mused, mulling over the name like it was a brand new candy he was testing out.

"Nice to meet ya Tavbro!" the clown grinned, grabbing Tavros' hand in an energetic handshake.

"The name's Gamzee," he replied.

"Gamzee motherfuckin' Makara."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ENTER GAMZEE! **

**I hope that this chapter is pleasing to you darlings! I've never worked at a pet shop before, but I imagine it could go down like this. Even though I don't describe it in vivid detail, the pet shop Nep and Tav work at is based off an actual pet shop in my town! When my older brother had a pet snake we'd go there and buy it a mouse to eat, and while my mom and bro were getting it I'd pet the puppies and kittens w and one time they actually did have a pig! It was a full grown pig, but a pig nonetheless!**

** Reviews and suggestions are warmly accepted!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: ****CHAPTER FOUR IS HERE!**

**First off I'd like to give shout-outs to all the people who have followed and favourite this story!**

**Linda065cliva, Niim42, We will make the world burn, AchicknamedBob, ChibChib, Homestuck Kitten, Sebby'sClosetKitten, SuieetBurri18, and Mobius Double Reacharound. All of you guys rock and I hope I can continue to meet your expectations! This chapter was actually sort of difficult to write but I hope that it's still good. This is a long chapter, which I hope you like!**

**Any who on with the story!**

The sound of the elevator door opening sounded like a groan from the apartment, the decrepit building announcing its age and whether. The final 'clank' rang out like a gong, announcing the battle Tavros was about to engage in. The two males exited the elevator and Tavros slowly wheeled down the hall, Gamzee following close behind. The empty quiet made Tavros' heart sound very loud, and he hoped that Gamzee couldn't hear it. They reached the door to Tavros' apartment, and he reached clumsily into his pocket for his keys. It took him a two tries to remember that his keys were in his other pocket, and he grabbed them into his sweaty hand. He noticed that his neighbours' apartment was quiet for the first time in days, and he wasn't sure if he was glad about it or not.

He hoped that Gamzee didn't see how much his hand was shaking as he tried to get the key into the keyhole. Swallowing in an attempt to wet his dry throat, Tavros managed to get the key inside and took his time in unlocking it. Soon enough the door was opened and the two entered the apartment. The door closed and the apartment was filled with silence.

"Well, here we are," Tavros said awkwardly, gesturing to his home.

The apartment was quaint, albeit not the most spacious of living spaces. For one person, it would have been just fine, but Tavros' chair made it less so. The main room consisted of a space acting as a living room and a kitchenette. The walls were a tan colour, and the carpeted floor was a muddy olive colour. Tavros had a modest TV, and as for seating space he had a worn green loveseat, and a small table with only one chair pushed against the wall. There were three white doors leading to the other rooms: one that led to a small broom closet, one to the bathroom, and one to Tavros' bedroom. It wasn't the nicest, but given Tavros' income, not to mention the building had a wheelchair ramp, he was content with it.

Now that they were inside, Tavros had no idea what he was to do with his new guest. He felt like someone who had been given a kid to babysit and had no clue where to start.

"So um…make yourself at home?" While trying to come up with a plan beyond letting the musician stay with him, he noticed that a considerable puddle had formed where the clown had been standing.

"L-let me get you a t-towel," Tavros said.

"What should I do with these?" Gamzee asked, gesturing to his sopping clothes. A towel would hardly do anything for the sopping wet clothes, Tavros realized.

"Oh. W-well the laundry room is just down the hall, I-I could put them in the dryer for you."

This idea led to another one. "In fact, i-if you wanted to, you can use the shower if you wanted to. It might warm you up." It would also rid the clown of the stench that clung to him, but Tavros didn't mention this -little tid-bit.

"Oh man, that'd be sweet," Gamzee said dreamily.

"It's over there," Tavros said, pointing to the bathroom door.

"A'ight." He traipsed over to the bathroom, leaving a dark trail where water droplets fell off of him and onto the carpet.

"Turn the knob to the right to get hot water."

"Oki-doki bro."

"A-and the towels are in the cabinet under the sink!"

"Got it."

"I-it takes a while for the water to heat up, s-s-so be careful when you-"

Gamzee closed the bathroom door behind him, cutting Tavros off. This irritated Tavros, despite being used to being cut off mid-sentence. Alone for the first time, Tavros let out a sigh. He was making this up as he went, and was relieved that during however long it took Gamzee to take a shower would be time he could spend thinking about what to do next. There were questions he should be asking, things he should be doing. He never had guests over to his home, so his skills as a host were rather…non-existent.

He heard the shuffling of clothes, and the door cracked open.

A long arm stuck out, holding a mushy ball of wet clothes.

"Here ya go bro!" The hand dropped the ball into a pile on the floor, before retracting and shutting the door again. Tavros heard the water turn on, and wheeled over to the pile. He grabbed the laundry basket beside the door and picked up the pile of sopping clothes, plopping them into the basket. There was a small dark circle left in the carpet, but since it was just water Tavros chose not to worry about it too much.

As he rolled towards the door, he realized how risky it was letting a stranger be in his apartment alone. Thoughts of his home being ransacked while he was in the laundry room floated into his head. He looked back at the closed door, listening to the sound of the water shifting, obviously disturbed by the body moving beneath it. He then heard singing starting up.

_Carry on my wayward son,_

_There'll be peace when you are done._

_Lay your weary head to rest,_

_Don't you cry no mooooor!_

What followed was Gamzee humorously attempting to replicate the guitar with his voice, making Tavros smile slightly. The shower amplified the sound, filling the whole apartment with the clown reciting the classic song. For some reason this reassured the wheelchair bound young man, and let him exit his home with a lighter conscious. He rolled out of the apartment, laundry basket in his lap and made the quick trip to the laundry room. It was times like these that he was grateful that his apartment was on the same floor as the laundry room. He could put the clothes in the washer and pop back into the apartment to check to see that his stuff was still there. He then began to try and think of what he owned that was even worth stealing. The most valuable things he had were his TV, laptop, and vacuum cleaner. It was rather sad, the more he thought about it. There was nobody in the room as he wheeled himself in; giving him full range of the room's cleaning machines.

He began picking up pieces of clothing, examining them. He grimaced when he took back his hand and saw that streaks of wet dirt had followed. The rain seemed to awaken the muck and grime that had been sleeping in within the fabric, and was no doubt partially responsible for the clown's stench.

_'These things are filthy! How long had he been wearing these?'_ Along with the grime, the clothes were tattered and full of holes. Under his faded hoodie it appeared that Gamzee had been wearing an old t-shirt in dull purple. The collar looked stretched and worn, and there was a large hole under the left armpit. The hoodie's zipper no longer zipped, due to the zipper head being missing, and the threads were unravelling. The black skinny jeans, that now ran grey with paint, had two large slashes in both knees that looked like they were done with scissors long ago. Judging by the fact that the pants were most likely too small for him, Tavros came to the conclusion that the slashes were made so that movement was still possible. There were no socks among the clothes, indicating that Gamzee wore nothing with his scuffed converse.

Originally, Tavros was just going to put the clothes in the dryer, but now he knew that they were going to need washing as well. But that would only rid the clothes of their filth; it would do nothing for their poor physical condition. He put the clothes in the washer, dumped in the detergent, and set the washer to start. Knowing that the clothes would be safe, nobody did their laundry this late at night, he returned to his apartment.

He opened the door and nearly choked on his tongue, and made noise that sounded like he did.

"Hey man, did you know that your shampoo smells amazing?" Gamzee asked. It seemed that he had taken up Tavros' offer about making himself at home. He was sprawled out on Tavros' couch, flipping through channels and eating cereal from the box. But what caused Tavros' reaction was the fact that Gamzee was wearing nothing but a towel.

Which provided a rather…clear view.

He wasn't muscular, most likely attributed to his eating habits, or lack of them, but he had a good body with some slight definition. Out of his clothes, his nicely tanned skin was more noticeable, the olive colour making Tavros wonder if he was something non-Caucasian. Wavy black hair shinned with moisture as it hung in his face like a sheep dog. Tavros also saw that he had tattoos up and down his arms. They were a cluster of images in muted blacks, blues and purples. The image he could make out the most was a strange goat creature with fins, sugar skulls, and the happy/sad theatre masks. This was also the first time Tavros got to see his face devoid of clown paint.

He had high cheekbones, a strong jawline, a straight rather large nose that should have been unattractive but for some reason was not, and only a slight hollowness to his cheeks that indicated he was malnourished. What stood out most though were the three white lines that went diagonally across his face. Tavros wanted to ask about the scars, but didn't for fear of offending him.

Gamzee yawned and stretched his arms upwards; making the towel ride just a little bit lower, to which Tavros looked away blushing.

"Something the matter?"

"N-nothing!" Tavros squeaked. The meek young man had no idea how he should continue on when there was a man who was practically naked sitting in his apartment eating up all his Lucky Charms.

"Y-y-your clothes are in the washer. They sh-should be done in a while," stammered Tavros.

"Thanks man," Gamzee replied, shovelling more cereal into his mouth.

"W-w-would you like me t-to see if I have anything that would fit you?" Tavros asked, eager to get the man into some clothes.

"I'm fine either way," Gamzee answered casually apparently unashamed of his indecency. Tavros made the decision for him and went into his room to hunt down some spare clothes. Tavros wheeled into his room, glad he no longer had to look at Gamzee's body. Though he questioned why he was so eager to rid himself of the image. Gamzee wasn't ugly, far from it quite actually. In fact, he was wondering what he must look like under his towel-

_'No no NO, I am NOT thinking about that!'_ Tavros groaned into his hands hoping to make the heat in his cheeks disappear. Those thoughts had come out of nowhere, he never thought like that! He shook his head and the thoughts away, and started searching for something his new guest could wear. As he tore through his closet, he realized most of his things wouldn't fit. Tavros was slightly below average height and size wise, and Gamzee being such a giant didn't help matters. After digging all the way to the back of his closet, he discovered a conundrum. What he found would most likely fit his guest, but at the same time he was slightly embarrassed to admit to its existence.

It was a sweater knitted for him by his old high school friend, Kanaya. While she was a successful fashion designer now, this had been made back when she first started getting into fashion, and it showed. She hadn't thought to measure Tavros before making, so it was a monstrous sea of fabric that was like a dress to him back in high school, and still was oversized presently. The sleeves were white while the main part was a bright blue. The main feature was the rather crudely rendered cow on the front, its black eyes lopsided and its fuchsia-pink snout a little too large. Above it was a sun in a gaudy shade of yellow with a wiggly smile on it.

It was most likely the only thing that was going to fit on his guest, but he couldn't deny how dorky it was, no matter his sentimental attachment to it. He was certain Gamzee's impression of him was already bad, so he didn't need this to add to the mix.

"'ey, is that for me?" Tavros jumped and turned to see Gamzee standing over him eyeing the sweater. He had his head bent down so that he was peering over Tavros' shoulder, close enough that he could detect the scent of his shampoo in his freshly washed hair. He was also close enough for Tavros to get a closer look at the man's facial scars, and see that they were even rougher close up. He was also close enough to make Tavros uncomfortable.

"I uh…"

'_Oh great,' _thought Tavros. The sweater was suddenly snatched out of Tavros' grip, and he tried to play it off.

"Th-th-that's nothing I-" His cheeks were red with embarrassment as his guest eyed the garment. He could only imagine what he was thinking about.

"It-it's the only thing I c-could find," Tavros mumbled sheepishly. "If you d-don't want to wear it I-I understand…"

"What are you talking about Tavbro? This is motherfuckin' perfect!"

Tavros cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Hell yeah, rain is sweater weather, didn't ya know?"

Tavros was surprised as Gamzee eagerly slipped the sweater on. Gamzee, the homeless musician -apologies _bard_- who wasn't afraid of angry business men, who bustled on the street in clown make-up and mostly black attire, with wicked scars on his face and tatted up arms, and carried himself like a carefree badass…

Looked very out of place in Tavros' ugly sweater.

"Cosy as fuck," he beamed. His sigh was practically a purr as he started rubbing the sleeves of the sweater and nuzzling his face into the material affectionately.

Tavros couldn't help it, he laughed.

"What's up bro?"

"N-nothing!" Tavros said between giggles. The image of this roguish man nuzzling his sweater like a kitten was too much for Tavros. When he came to his sense though he quickly fell quiet and mumbled apologies. Gamzee still had the towel around his waist, and Tavros knew that none of his pants would fit the taller man.

"I don't I have any pants that could fit," he admitted.

"That's alright bro, I got this." With no warning, Gamzee turned and started going through Tavros' dresser drawers.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Lookin' for some motherfuckin' underwear man. It's gettin' breezy down there." Tavros blushed at that unneeded information as Gamzee made a noise of accomplishment.

"Bingo!" He pulled out a pair of Tavros' underwear.

"Cool you wear boxers too. I have no idea how fuckers can wear those brief things. Shit squeezes more than a fuckin' black mamba. Oh wait, those are motherfucking venomous. Okay, like a Burmese python!"

Tavros blanched when, without warning, the towel was dropped.

"C-c-c-could you please n-not d-d-d-do that in front of me?" Tavros stammered, looking away with a hand over his eyes.

"Oh! Sorry man! Where are my manners?"

'_Hiding out on Pluto?' _Tavros thought to himself.

"I'll be in the fuckin' bathroom." Tavros heard footsteps padding away, and once he heard the bathroom door close he opened his eyes.

He was mentally thanking Kanaya for making the sweater so long, as it blocked him from seeing Gamzee's behind or any intimates parts. He shook his head and rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. His new guest was becoming more than he could handle, he realized.

He obviously was ignorant in the ways of decency and personal space, and had less social skills than Tavros, which was quite an accomplishment. What made it worse was that due to his apparent lack of shame, Tavros was the only one to suffer the embarrassment of the situation.

The young man sighed, knowing there wasn't much he could do about it. He had promised to let him stay the night, the washing machine would be going for a while, and the man was wearing his boxers, so Tavros was going to have to deal with him for a while. Tavros took the time to change out of his clothes and into something more comfortable. Usually he would be in his boxers to sleep, but given his situation he pulled out some rarely used pyjama bottoms and a baggy t-shirt.

He was not expecting what he saw as he wheeled into the living room. Gamzee was lying on the couch, now in Tavros' commandeered boxers, clutching a pillow and staring at the television. The look on his face surprised Tavros. It was the first time he had seen the man without a smile on his face. He wasn't outright frowning, but the blank expression on his face was only intensified by the look in his dark blue eyes. His usually shining eyes were now slightly dimmer, as they stared glazed at the television that wasn't even on. He curled further around the pillow, clutching it tighter like it was an anchor. He looked haggard, with shadows under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days and the lost look on his face made Tavros remember the severity of this man's situation.

If Tavros hadn't offered to let him in he would still be out there freezing in the rain, more worried about keeping his guitar dry than keeping himself out of the rain. The scars, once hidden behind a mask of paint, made him look more severe, marring his otherwise handsome face. Tavros decided that he didn't like it when Gamzee frowned, and was starting to prefer when he was making him uncomfortable with his antics.

Gamzee perked his head up when Tavros cleared his throat.

"So uh…" Tavros scratched his head. "Are you still hungry?" He saw the Lucky Charms box on the ground by the couch.

"I see you've finished the cereal."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"I-it's fine. I was going to reheat some leftover pizza. Do you want any?"

Gamzee nodded, so Tavros went to the fridge. He pulled out the pizza box and pulled out four slices of pizza, two for each of them. He put them on a plate and put it in the microwave.

"What do you want to drink?" he asked as he pulled out two glasses.

"Got any faygo?"

"What's that?" There was a sharp intake of breath that made Tavros look back. The look on Gamzee's face was utter shock. His jaw was slack and his eyes were big as saucers.

"What's wrong?" Tavros asked, voice concerned.

"You don't know what FAYGO is?!" he gasped.

"N-no?"

"Oh Mirthful Messiahs! What hellish life have you endured where you don't even know what motherfucking Faygo it?! Faygo is the shit! It's the wicked elixir man! Fizzy goodness sold by the wonderful dudes at gas stations and Walmarts everywhere!"

"Wait, it's soda?"

"It ain't just soda man!" Gamzee said passionately. "It's the liquid of the gods! Proof of a higher power in the form of carbonated nectary goodness."

Tavros couldn't help but snort at him getting so worked up over a drink.

"Sorry, but I don't have any Faygo, nor have I ever had any."

"I'll get you to try it one day," Gamzee swore. "You need to taste its miracles."

Tavros rolled his eyes.

"If you say so." Tavros peered into the fridge.

"I have root beer, is that okay?"

"Yeah I suppose." Tavros poured two glasses of the drink and put the litre bottle back in the fridge. The microwave dinged and Tavros pulled out the plate of now steaming pizza. Balancing the drinks and plate in his lap, he rolled over to the living room, setting the plate and drinks on the coffee table.

"Thanks Tavbro," Gamzee said, taking a piece of pizza.

"N-no problem," he answered. Tavros chose to ignore the moan that rumbled in Gamzee's throat as he bit into the slice of pizza.

"Sweeeet cheesy goodness," he drew out over cheese filled chews.

"You act like you've never had pizza before."

"Man it's been a long motherfuckin' time. I might as well have never had it before," Gamzee said as he annihilated his first piece, already moving in on the second.

"What do you want to do now?" Tavros asked as he ate his pizza at a much slower pace. Gamzee swallowed his food and chugged down half of his drink.

"I don't know, wanna watch TV?"

"Th-there isn't usually anything good on right now, b-but I have some movies."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, under the TV." Gamzee leapt up from the couch and plopped himself in front of the television. He opened the cabinet under the TV and began scanning Tavros' video collection. Meanwhile Tavros had pushed himself onto the couch, preferring it to his chair when watching TV.

"Leeeeets seeeee…" Gamzee hummed to himself as his finger hovered over the spines of the various DVD cases, brows furrowed in concentration. After apparently scanning over all of them, he sat back on his haunches, arms crossed with a pout on his lips.

"I can't motherfuckin decide!" he exclaimed with a wave of his hands.

"I'm just gonna pick one at random." He decided. He put a hand over his eyes and waved his hand back and forth over the DVDs. Tavros watched in amusement at the dramatic display his guest was putting on, all for picking a movie. Like a viper striking its prey, Gamzee's hand shot out and pulled forth a DVD.

"Okay let's see what we've got." Gamzee looked at the title.

"So Tavbro, in the mood for Peter Pan?"

"Yeah!" said Tavros happily. "Actually it's my favourite movie."

"Sweet! Let's put this bad boy on!" Gamzee took the movie from the case and slid it into the DVD player.

"Hey you got popcorn?"

"No, sorry."

"That's fine bro." Gamzee glided into the kitchen and went immediately for one of the top cabinets.

"Where are you…?" Gamzee mumbled to himself as he dug through the cabinet. Tavros was about to ask him what he was doing when Gamzee pulled a box from the cabinet.

"Here you are!" he said as he walked back to the couch.

"How did you know I had Captain Crunch?"

"The same way I knew you had motherfuckin' Lucky Charms." Gamzee plopped onto the couch, and consequently on top of Tavros' legs.

"Uh Gamzee?" Tavros asked awkwardly. Since he couldn't feel his legs they didn't hurt, however he still didn't want his lanky guest sitting on top of him.

"Alright, hold on a motherfuckin second…" It took some manoeuvring, but after some rearranging they ended up in a semi comfortable position. Gamzee had somehow curled his long legs under him like a cat, with Tavros' legs in his lap, and the box of Captain Crunch between them. Tavros did not like it when other people touched his legs, and this position was pushing it for him. But there was no other way they would both fit on the couch, and since they were just in Gamzee's lap and he wasn't actually touching them, Tavros was willing to endure it.

"Mind if I use this?" Gamzee asked, pointing to the blanket draped over the back of the couch.

"It alright."

"Thanks man." He grabbed the blanket and draped it over his shoulders. He also reached over and wrapped it around Tavros' shoulders as well. Tavros made a gauche noise since this made them sit closer together, enough for their shoulders to touch.

"Um…Gamzee?"

"Yeah bro?"

"Aren't you ya know…uncomfortable?"

"Why would I be? Wait, are you?"

"No, no, no! It's just that, well we're kinda close together, and I just thought you'd like-"

"Oh I'm fine man, I don't mind," he reassured Tavros. He scrunched down further into the couch, burrowing under the blanket and closer to Tavros.

"You're like a motherfucking space-heater you know that?"

"N-no I didn't know," said Tavros meekly.

"Well you are, but it's cool. I hate the cold…" He said that last part very quietly, and Tavros thought he saw a look pass over his face. But just as the look came it was quickly gone, replaced by his usual grin.

"Here we go bro," Gamzee said pressing 'play' on the remote.

Tavros found himself at ease for the first time since he's returned to the apartment. For some reason it felt natural for them to sit there, watching movies and eating Captain Crunch from the box. He'd only known him for a day, and yet it was like they had been friends for years. Tavros was so comfortable he wasn't even embarrassed of his squeaky singing voice as he sang along to the songs he'd memorized years ago. It seemed Gamzee was familiar with the movie also, as he joined in the impromptu sing-along with the bourbon voice Tavros remembered from that morning.

As the movie reached its climax, the hectic events of the day finally caught up to Tavros. His eyelids felt heavy, and despite fighting the sleepiness, he found himself nodding off. As his eyes shut at last he slumped over, his head resting on a bony, but somehow comfortable, shoulder as he drifted off to sleep.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**PHEWWWWW FINALLY IT'S DONE! Sorry it took me a while to update, school stuff gets in the way not to mention I went to Gencon this weekend! (Totally awesomesauce btw!) If you don't know what Gencon is, it's a gaming convention here in Indianapolis that also has comics, anime, videogames, and a bunch of other stuff. I was cosplaying as Gamzee and even got to be a part of a Homestuck meet-up and photo-shoot! **

**If you're interested in seeing those pics they are on my DeviantArt account here: **

**Once again thank you to all you guys reading this and I will try and update as fast as I can!**

**Follow and Favourite, and reviews are nice too! If you have any questions or suggestions ask away and I will answer!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****WOW FAST UPDATE MUCH?**

**Holy moly two chapters two days in a row? Bet you guys LOOOOVE me huh? This chapter just came very easily and the creative juices were a'flowin good. **

**Thanks to my newest followers/favoriters: AlianAnn, and cannibalisticReaper. Also thanks to everyone else who has followed or favorited this, you guys rock and I so appreciate your support. Any who, on with the story!**

A foreign smell wafted its way into Tavros' nostrils, spurring him to the worls of the waking. With brow furrowed and nose twitching at the mysterious agitator, Tavros let out a sleepy groan and blinked open his eyes. The smell was stronger now that he was awake, and made him sit up in his bed.

_'Wait… bed?'_ Looking down, Tavros saw that he was indeed cocooned in the warm comforter of his bed, but he had no memory of returning to his room that night. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep at the end of the movie…

Tavros moaned and slapped his forehead. Along with remembering when he fell asleep, he also recalled _where_ he fell asleep: slumped over on Gamzee's shoulder.

_'He must have carried me in here,'_ he thought in embarrassment. Speaking of Gamzee, Tavros was wondering where his guest had wondered off to, and what on earth that smell was. He looked over and saw that his wheelchair was also put in his room, and he was thankful that Gamzee would remember it. He hopped into his chair and wheeled to the door, opening it slowly as to not make a sound.

He poked his head out and found that the living room was empty. The spread out blanket and pillows stacked at one end were the only indicators that somebody had been sleeping there. Now outside his room, the smell was potent, and Tavros could here sizzling coming from the kitchenette. Hesitantly, he wheeled out of his room and around the corner to see what was going on in his kitchen.

His hands paused over the chair wheels and his eyes widened.

"Um…"

"Oh hey Tav! I see you're finally up and motherfucking at it."

"Uh yeah, um...what are you doing?"

"Cookin' us up some wicked munchies," Gamzee said with a grin as he sprinkled something into the skillet in his hand. The counters were covered in various cooking utensils and containers of food, all of which seemed to be going into whatever the bard was cooking in the skillet. The place smelled like bazaar in summer, many of the scents coming from foods and spices Tavros didn't remember even possessing.

Gamzee was still in the boxers he 'borrowed' the other night, but had discarded the sweater and now had an apron tied around his chest. Tavros blushed and wheeled himself over to the living room, partially to straighten up the couch, but mostly to avoid the image of the half-naked man making breakfast in his kitchen.

"S-so how did you sleep last night?" Tavros asked while folding up the blanket.

"Best sleep I've had in ages man. I am refreshed as a motherfucker," sighed Gamzee as he added something to the skillet that made the contents sizzle loudly.

"I see, that's good." Tavros didn't want to imagine the places Gamzee had slept in that made his lumpy old couch seem so comfortable.

"What 'bout you man? You must have been one tired motherfucker, didn't even make it through the movie."

"S-sorry about that," Tavros apologized sheepishly. "I never fall asleep during movies. By the way, thanks f-for putting me in my bed."

"No problemo. You were so out it was like carrying a dead person."

"Y-yeah I must have been pretty tired," he chuckled nervously, not very fond of being compared to a corpse.

"I haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately, so it was nice finally falling asleep in a quiet apartment."

"What's been up and keeping you awake?"

"The neighbours like to play music," Tavros explained, putting his pillows back in place.

"Ah, that sucks." Tavros heard the stove turn off and the sizzling cease. By now the smell of whatever food Gamzee had concocted had both his curiosity, and his stomach, aroused. He turned and saw his guest using a spatula to place the food onto two plates.

"Come 'n get it!" he said with a fake southern drawl. While he set the table, Tavros rolled over to investigate what Gamzee had been cooking up. He sat on the side of the table with no chair, since he already had one, and peered down at the contents of his plate. The substance was a dull red-brown and had a texture that looked like hardened chilli. The smell was one Tavros had never experienced before, and he poked at the thing suspiciously.

"What is this?"

"Tavros my man," Gamzee said, carrying two glasses of water. "I up and cooked you some wicked menemen."

"Mene-what?"

"Menemen. It's not the best I could do, since you ain't got no onions or sucuk, but that is still gonna rock your taste buds like something bitchin'."

"Uh w-what's in it?" Tavros asked, worried about what Gamzee could have possibly put into this dish whose name sounded made-up. Just based on his attitude, Tavros had a feeling Gamzee was one of those people who could eat ramen with pickles and wash it down with milk.

Gamzee listed off the ingredients on his fingers. "Let's see, it got eggs, tomato, pepper, red pepper, salt, oregano, and for a little twist of my own I threw in some bacon bits."

The list seemed normal enough, and made Tavros no longer eye it like it was a time bomb. He watched Gamzee use his fork to cut out a bite and eat it, so Tavros copied. He slowly brought it to his lips, glancing at Gamzee happily munching away, before closing his mouth over the fork. The burst of flavour was instant and made Tavros let out a muffled noise of surprise. The omelette-like dish had a lot of kick to it, hovering on the cusp of an eye-watering spiciness, but didn't take away from the colourful flavour it had. He swallowed his bite and continued eating with more gusto than his original tasting.

"This is amazing," he told Gamzee.

"Glad your taste buds be in agreement with the food of my people."

"You're people?"

"Yup, full-blooded Turk right here," he said proudly. "My old man came over pilgrim style, his menemen would make you weep tears of joy, I am only a pretender to his culinary throne."

"That's cool," Tavros said, filing that fact under the growing list of things he'd learned about his guest. He had a feeling Gamzee wasn't white, judging by his tanned skin.

"This reminds me of some of the things my abuelo would make when I was little."

"'Abuelo?' You Mexican?"

Tavros sighed. "Why does everybody always assume that just because you speak Spanish it automatically makes you Mexican? It's a very annoying stereotype."

"Sorry man, ain't tryin' to be offensive and shit. So what are you?"

"...Mexican."

"Cool! I ain't never been to Mexico before." "Well I've never been to Turkey before."

"Hey neither have I!"

That made Tavros smile slightly as he took a sip of water. After eating breakfast and cleaning up, Tavros remembered the clothes in the washer that still needed to go in the dryer.

"I'm going to the laundry room to check on your clothes, I'll be right back."

"Yes sir officer Tavbro," he said with a mock salute. Tavros wheeled into the laundry room and opened up the washer. Sitting in a wet lump all night left plenty of moisture still in the freshly washed clothes. Tavros tossed them in the dryer and went back to the apartment, knowing to check on them soon.

Upon opening the door he found his apartment filled with music. Gamzee was flopped across the couch, lazily strumming at his guitar and singing quietly along. His long fingers reminded him of birds snatching at worms as he plucked the strings; the music was like raindrops splashing at random to the ground.

_I backed my car into a cop car the other day,_

_Well he just drove off sometimes life's okay._

_I ran my mouth off a bit too much oh what did I say?_

_Well you just laughed it off it was all okay._

Tavros sat and just listened. Gamzee had his eyes closed, so Tavros wasn't sure if he was even aware of his presence. He would have said something, but it felt wrong to disturb the man when he was so into his song. Tavros thought it was silly at first when Gamzee referred to himself as a bard, but listening to him play again, the handicapped young man began to think that maybe it was an accurate description after all. As Gamzee got to the chorus the drip-drop melody slowed to a wavy, fluctuating hum.

_And we'll all float on okay,_

_And we'll all float on okay._

_And we'll all float on okay,_

_And we'll all float on any way._

Quickly following on the heels of the chorus the music sped up again and the rain-drop verses started up again.

_Well, a fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam._

_It was worth it just to learn from sleight of hand._

_Bad news comes don't you worry even when it lands,_

_Good news will work its way to all them plans._

_We both got fired on exactly the same day._

_Well we'll float on good news is on the way._

Tavros leaned back in his chair, relaxing as he watched Gamzee play. His eyes unfocused and he rested his head in his palm, elbow on the arm of the chair, while listening contently to the song. The blithe melody and Gamzee's gentle voice were very soothing. The light and happy mood of the song perfectly masked the dubious words that people obliviously revelled in. The song was an appropriate metaphor for the character of Gamzee Makara, Tavros would later come to realize. Until then, he too blindly followed the joyful melody, paying the lyrics no mind as he was reeled in by the sound of the bard's voice as if it were another instrument. Tavros grinned, and started humming along despite not knowing the words.

_And we'll all float on okay,_

_And we'll all float on okay._

_And we'll all float on okay,_

_And we'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on_

_Now don't you worry we'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on alright_

_Don't worry we'll all float on…_

His call back to reality came when he realized that the music had ceased playing a while ago. He blinked, coming back to focus in time to see he was being watched.

Gamzee was looking at him intently, guitar resting on his stomach. When Tavros' eyes met his, he flashed a smirk.

"Whatcha doin?" he asked playfully, obviously aware of Tavros' observing of him.

"O-oh I." Tavros scratched his head, embarrassed to be caught staring.

"You play very well," he mumbled.

"Thanks man."

"How long h-have you been playing?" he asked, hoping to avoid explaining why he was staring.

Gamzee let out a whistle "Whoo man seems like it's been motherfucking forever," he said, stoking the body of his guitar absentmindedly.

"I got this from a yard sale when I was twelve, been teaching myself ever since."

This brought to mind the fact that Tavros had no idea how old Gamzee was. He looked to be in his twenties, perhaps a year or two older than he, though as Tavros learned from people like Nepeta, looks could be deceiving.

"Hey Gamzee, how old are you anyways?"

"How old are _you_?" Gamzee retorted.

Tavros made a face. "I'm twenty-three."

"That's cool, I'm fourteen."

Tavros' jaw dropped and he felt a shock go through him.

"Fourteen?!" he gasped, voice even higher than usual.

"Yup, big one-four."

"Holy shit." For Tavros to start cursing was proof of his astonishment. Tavros shook his head, his brain unable to agree with this new information.

_'Fourteen-he's fourteen?! Oh god, how is that possible? He looks like he should be in college! Will I be charged with kidnapping? And I here was having those thoughts about-'_

He ran a hand through his mohawk and forced himself to derail that train of thought because no he did not have those thoughts about how Gamzee's face was so han-

'_Oh god is that even legal?! I'm pretty sure it's not!' _His casted his conflicted expression at the man, or should he say boy-'_Oh god I don't wanna go to jail!'_- sitting on his couch.

"Fourteen, are you serious?!" He was verging on becoming genuinely upset.

"Nah man, I'm twenty-five! I just felt like fuckin' with you."

The look on Tavros' face must have been comedy gold, because it had Gamzee cackling like a cartoon, knee slapping, and stomach grabbing included. Tavros felt a mixture of feelings as he let this settle in, among these feelings was a sensation of relief, though he had no idea where that came from. After collecting himself, he crossed his arms and glared at Gamzee. The image was less than intimidating.

"That wasn't very nice!"

"Ha-ha, I'm sorry bro!" Gamzee wiped his laughter-wet eyes. "You just make the funniest fuckin' faces! Seriously, your fuckin eyes looked like they were 'bout to go poppin' out your sockets man!"

Tavros rolled his eyes. "Is this how you repay the person who took you in?" he asked good-naturedly, after his irritation subsided some. Gamzee didn't seem to hear his quipus tone, as he immediately sobered up.

"Don't get me wrong man, I am motherfuckin grateful. Ain't nobody ever done for me what you did." He got up from the couch and walked over to Tavros.

"Uh, G-G-Gamzee?" he stammered as he found himself suddenly being embraced. Gamzee's height and Tavros' being in the chair made the position a tad awkward. Gamzee had to bend down low, with his lanky arms around Tavros' shoulders and his chin resting atop his head.

"I can't say this enough, Tavbro," the bard said. His voice was totally serious.

"Thank you." He tightened his grip. "Thank you _so_ much."

Tavros felt heat in his cheeks as he was pressed tighter into the taller man's chest. It didn't help that the only thing between him and Gamzee's bare skin was the thin apron he still had on for some reason. Not knowing what to do, he raised a shaky arm and patted Gamzee on the back, noticing that the musician's skin felt a couple degrees colder than his own, like he had been standing in winter air.

"_You're like a motherfucking space-heater, you know that?" _He remembered him saying. He swallowed hard.

"Gamzee?"

"Yeah man?"

"I uh, I n-n-n-need to check the laundry!" he said out of the blue. He didn't know why he suddenly had the urge to check the dryer, but it felt right at the time. There was a pause.

"Okay," said Gamzee casually, releasing Tavros from his arms. When Gamzee turned his back and made his way back to the couch, Tavros was wildly adjusting his flattened mohawk, begging the fire in his cheeks to go away.

"I-I'll be back in a second." Quickly he absconded from the apartment. He sat outside his door working to calm his breathing. Close contact has always been a bit of a trigger for him, and Gamzee's apparent fondness for displays of affection was testing his limit.

Just as he soothed his frazzled nerves, on the other side of the door the music started up again, and Tavros groaned when the heat in his cheeks returned.

He rolled away quickly; half of him was hoping that he couldn't hear the music from the laundry room.

_Alright, already,_

_And we'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on alright_

_Don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy_

_We'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on okay_

_Don't worry we'll all float on_

_Even if things get heavy we'll all float on alright_

_Already we'll all float on alright_

_Don't you worry we'll all float on alright_

_All float on_

_All float on…_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **

**Well another chapter down folks! Not much happens here, sorry about that. I like to write stories that develop the characters and I like to build up relationships slowly, but I always tried to keep everything entertaining. Still! We do get some more insights into our main lovelies, including ethnicities!**

**What do you guys think about Gamzee being Turkish? It's always been a headcanon of mine, especially when I learned that his name and parts of his design had a lot of middle eastern and Indian influences to them, but I didn't really like the idea of him being Indian (Not hatin' on Indians/Hindus btw!) and liked the idea of him being Turkish, especially after learning his name comes from "Gamze", which is a Turkish word meaning "dimple" or "coquettish look". As for Tav I've always imagined him being Hispanic, due to his Trollian handle, his sign since it made me think of bull-fighters, plus I don't know why, but I always though Nitram sounded Hispanic to me. **

**Also if you didn't know, Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast dish, and sucuk is like a Turkish sausage.**

**Follow/Favorite and once again I accept any review, suggestions, and criticisms because your guys' feedback always helps me get better!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: ****SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!**

**Sorry it's been so long since the last update. School has really started to take up my time, not to mention that I've been working on a couple other fics. Just a heads up, it may take me longer to update, but rest assured I don't plan on going on hiatus any time soon!**

**THANKS FOR FAVS/FOLLOWING: GayBabies, Tonoxic, PuppetGirl131, **

**Mike Emerald, astralUndertaker, and THIS KARKAT BELONGS TO SOLLUX, along with everyone else whose already following, as well as those who are just reading this! You guys rock and all of your comments make me really happy.**

**Anywho on with the story! **

The laundry was totally innocent. It was just a pile of clothes that had done nothing wrong and had brought no harm to anybody. But Tavros didn't care, he gave no shits. The state of the laundry's guilt-to-innocence record meant nothing to him.

The handicapped man yanked the clothes out of the dryer and roughly shoved them into the laundry basket like they were the most vile things he'd ever come across. Of course, he didn't mean to be so forceful with the laundry, just like he didn't mean to slam the dryer door so hard that it actually made him flinch when the sound boomed off the walls of the laundry room.

The reason for his man-handling of the clothing items was back in his apartment, most likely still strumming away at his sharpie-covered guitar.

Tavros still had no idea why he was so worked up. He didn't actually feel irritated, though it sure looked like he was. He didn't even know why every little thing that his guest was doing caused him to be so on edge.

Perhaps it was because he was unused to company? This had been his first assumption, and was the one he had held onto for the period of Gamzee's stay. However, he began to recall that there were moments where he was actually at ease around his guest, enough to even joke around and bicker like they were roommates.

But they weren't roommates.

Despite their current arrangement, they were still essentially strangers, and Tavros was not supposed to be comfortable around strangers, especially somebody like Gamzee, who was the kind of person that Tavros generally avoided. He mulled over his inner turmoil, and before he knew it he was rolling back to his apartment, laundry basket of lavender scented clothes in his lap.

He saw that Gamzee was where he left him, sitting on the couch with his guitar. But he no longer was playing, and instead was watching what appeared to be "The Big Labowski" on the television.

Tavros gulped. His overactive mind had reminded him of all the reasons that he shouldn't be okay with this state of affairs, and what little comfort he found around Gamzee retreated because of it.

"H-h-h-here are your c-c-clothes," Tavros stammered, finding he couldn't even look at the other man.

"Oh thanks bro!" The musician was either unaware of Tavros' uneasiness, or simply didn't comment on it. Gamzee rolled off the couch, actually flopping on the floor before hopping up like nothing had happened. With his head down, Tavros did not see this, and only heard the thump of him landing on the floor, his footsteps padding over to him, and felt the basket being lifted from his lap.

He heard Gamzee taking in a deep breath. Tavros poked his head up and saw that the man had his head buried in the laundry basket and was loudly sniffing the clothes. When he came back to the surface he had a dopey smile on his face, and sighed.

"Hehe they smell nice."

Tavros was unsure what comment was appropriate after that.

"Th-thanks?" Tavros said, but then realized it was probably weird to be thanking him when it wasn't even his own laundry.

"Imma change."

Tavros squeaked and covered his eyes when Gamzee reached for the waistband of his boxers.

"Whoops, I almost forgot." The way he said it made it sound like he had merely forgotten to grab the salt and not like he had almost stripped down in front of Tavros for a _second_ time. He took the laundry basket and retreated to the bedroom, unaware of Tavros sitting there awkwardly. For some reason, his eyes glanced over at the guitar resting on the couch, alone and untouched. Curiosity emerged, despite his better judgment.

He quickly looked to the bedroom door, mentally gauging how long it would take Gamzee to get dressed. Ignoring the voices telling him not to, he wheeled over and gingerly grabbed the guitar. He carefully lifted it as if it were made of eggshells, trying his best not to make any noise. The instrument felt almost sinful in Tavros' lap as he traced the doodles scribbled all over its body. Most of it was in black ink, but hidden there was scribbles in purple, blue, and even red. The art was messing and sporadic in most places, but there were patches that were very ornate and detailed, almost like different people had contributed to the guitar's defacement. There were a lot of smiley faces of varying sizes, all of them having little circles for clown noses. There were also multiple depictions of the same mer-goat creature that Gamzee had tattooed on his arm, as well as words; but most of them had been written over, were too scrunched up or too sloppy to make out.

Tavros experimentally dragged his fingers across the strings, a kind of excitement stirring in his chest when he heard the faint notes floating off of the stings. He started plucking harder at the strings, a sort of guilty glee like a kid who had snuck into their older sibling's room and was messing with their stuff.

"You play?" He jumped like a jackrabbit, throwing the guitar unceremoniously back onto the couch. He turned his head to Gamzee, feeling scandalized as the bard looked at his guitar and back to Tavros, his eyebrow cocked.

"You okay man?" he asked with chary.

"Uh…"

"I asked if you played," he said walking over to the couch. He picked up his guitar and Tavros saw how he turned to over, subtly checking for any damage, and he felt like even more of a fool.

"No uh, I w-was just um, sorry for t-touching it."

"It's cool man." Gamzee returns to his spot on the couch. It crosses Tavros' mind how Gamzee lays there like it was his own couch.

"You play anything music?" The bard asked, lazily strumming the strings.

"Um, I used to play the d-drums in high school." Tavros looked down at his feet.

"I don't really p-play anymore though, can't use the base drum…" He gestured to his legs. A look of pity flashed across Gamzee's face.

"That's sucks bro."

Tavros snorted bitterly. _'That's the understatement of the century.' _He wanted to say, but he held his tongue.

"Yeah. I used to have a drum set, but I got rid of it a while ago."

"Motherfucker!"

"What, what?" Tavros asked, concerned at the sudden outburst.

"I just had a kickass idea!"

"W-what?"

"Lemme teach you," he said, pointing to the guitar.

"R-really?"

"Hell yeah man, I bet you'd be bitch-tits wicked. What do you say?"

"I, I don't know. I mean, I'll probably suck at it…"

"Man that don't matter. When I first started out I sounded like ass. My old man would come bursting into my room yelling, '_Susun! Eğer o korkunç gürültü yapma bitmiyor ben tekme Istanbul tüm yol sıska kıç!_'" Tavros looked lost for words. "Um…What?"

"Basically he said to shut the fuck up. Then when I didn't he hit me with a rolling pin. Think I got a black eye, or maybe that's when I broke my finger."

"Gamzee that's horrible!"

"Nah man," Gamzee dismissed. "He only did that when I deserved it, which was a lot. I was a shitty lil' fucker and we used to fight a lot. I think my blood was on his kitchen shit more often than food was," Gamzee laughed.

His reassurances didn't fully quell Tavros' concern, and his light-hearted tone only disturbed him more. Even if he was being unruly, Tavros didn't think that warranted an assault with kitchen utensils. His own father wasn't afraid of laying on the punishments, though most of the time it was garnered at his older brother Rufioh: Tavros had been a well-behaved child. Still, no matter what either of them did, he couldn't remember his dad raising a hand to either of them. Tavros started to wonder more about Gamzee's past, and if his home life had anything to do with those scars on his face.

"So what do you say man?"

"Huh?"

"To me teaching you!"

Tavros remembered what it was they had originally been discussing.

"I don't know, isn't it hard? A-and there's s-s-so many notes to memorize."

"Don't worry man, we got all the time in the world."

"Well, I suppose…" Absentmindedly Tavros looked away, his eyes happening to glance at the clock. He felt his stomach drop like an anvil.

"Oh shit!"

"Whoa what's wrong man?" Gamzee asked as Tavros proceeded to flip his shit. He zoomed around the apartment, grabbing his phone, keys, and wallet, all the while a panicked stream of curses poured from his lips.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!"

"Tavros what's wrong?"

"I'm late for work!"

Late was putting it lightly. He was supposed to have come in to work over an hour ago. All the fuss with Gamzee had made Tavros totally forget about his job.

"I gotta go!" he yelled, barrelling out of the apartment without even looking back at the bard.

Tavros was a ball of anxiety as he descended the elevator. He felt like the world was ending around him in a tornado-like fashion. He pulled out his phone and groaned when he saw that it was spammed with texts from Nepeta, along with five calls he didn't hear. He checked and confirmed that his phone had indeed been on silent. He was about to send her a text but the elevator doors opened and he zoomed across the lobby and into the street. He saw people staring at him strangely as he barrelled down the sidewalk like a madman, but for once he could care less, panic taking precedence. His arms burned from the constant turning of the wheels, but he didn't dare slow down. He got to the store in record time, and almost ran over two people as he tried braking. He was a huffing, puffing mess as he rolled into the store, much slower this time.

His stomach dropped and his guilt increased when he saw a huge crowd swarming the front of the store, the counter the only thing separating the hoard from a frazzled Nepeta.

"I'm here!"

"Where have you been?" Nepeta cried as she tried calming the people who apparently did not know the concept of a line, or waiting in one.

"I-I-I can explai-"

"Never mind, just get over here and help me!"

For once being in a wheelchair was helpful, as the crowd parted like the Red Sea as Tavros rolled behind the counter. With two people manning the register, it was easier to control the chaos and eventually everyone in the crows was sated and trickled out of the store. When the last person left, both employees let out twin sighs; Nepeta slumped into a chair, and Tavros slouched in his wheelchair.

"I've never seen so many people in the store at once," he huffed.

"From what I gathered, there's a dog show down the street and somebody forgot to order pet food."

"Ah…" When he finally dared to look over at Nepeta, and saw that her sweet, adorable face was twisted in irritation. He gave her a nervous smile, chucking sheepishly.

"Sorry I was late." And with that the floodgates opened. Nepeta was talking a mile a minute, interrogating and questioning him as to his whereabouts.

"Do you know how worried I was?" she said. "Not to mention that I was all by myself!"

"I am so sorry," he said, feeling utterly guilty.

"I completely forgot, something came up and-"

"What came up?"

"W-well, I uh had company and-"

"Wait company? At your house? Since when do you have people over? You _never _have people over!"

"It-it's complica-"

"Who is this person? How do you know them? How is it they've been to your house but you never invited me?"

"W-w-w-w-well actually I met him yesterday a-"

"You've only known the guy for a day and you let him into your house?! Wait." Nepeta got a strange look on her face that Tavros couldn't identify.

"Did he stay the night?"

"Y-yeah?"

She got another look on her face, on that he really didn't like. She had this weird grin, her eyebrows wagging, and looked like the cat that just caught the canary.

"W-why are you looking at me like that?"

Tavros did not expect the sudden squeal that erupted from the small girl's mouth.

"Tavvy you dog!"

"Wait what?"

"I thought you were too shy for something like that. Oh I was hoping that this day would come!"

"Huh?"

"How was it, I mean to allow somebody into your bed after just meeting them…?"

"Come again?!"

"You don't have to give me all the dirty details, oh who am I kidding yes you do! Was it amazing? How long has it been, or was this your first time? Is he cute, oh who topped?!"

"WHAT?!"

"Ooooh love at first sight! Please tell me how you met! Did you two see each other from across the street, eyes meeting and feeling the electricity spark?"

She let out another ear-piercing squeal, jumping up and down clapping her hands, until she crushed Tavros in a hug.

"I'm so happy for yooooou!" she gushed while swinging him back and forth in her arms.

"N-Nprt…Nrprta!" After enough flailing Tavros managed to get his distress across and Nepeta released him.

"L-listen Nepeta, it isn't what you think it is."

"What do you mean?"

Tavros then retold the events of yesterday, from his first encounter with Gamzee, to the situation that led to him spending the night in his apartment. As he talked, the mischievous grin on the cat-lover's face slowly fell, turning into a look of concern, though by the time he was done talking she was grinning once more.

"Oh Tav you are such a sweet-heart!" Tavros braced himself for another bear-hug, but luckily he was spared such a fate.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"I still ship it though."

"What?!"

"New OTP!"

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: ****There you go my darlings!**

**Does the pacing seem alright to you? This is my first romance fic and I'm trying to get a good build up, while still keeping it entertaining. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve do let me know!**

**Translations: **

**Turkish: **_"Susun! Eğer o korkunç gürültü yapma bitmiyor ben tekme Istanbul tüm yol sıska kıç!"_

**English**_: "Shut up! If you do not stop making that awful noise I will kick your skinny ass all the way to Istanbul!"_

**Let me know if there is any problem with the translation as Turkish is not my native language. Though I did work hard to make sure it was right.**

** Fav/Follow/Review and all that good jazz!**

**If you have any questions or suggestions let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!**

**Hey guys sorry it's been so long since I've updated. My mother took away all of my electronics due to my grades. Luckily I have a Chromebook for school, but it has filters on it that block FanFiction :C Luckily I get home from school an hour before my mother so I've had time to upload this to FF. Y'all should feel grateful I'm risking my life for you guys! XD**

**Shout outs to ShyMoon19, PrincessCarly28, DokuDoki, and christinamina1, for faving/following, along with everyone else who has been faving and following.**

** Anywho, on with the story!**

"Um, Nepeta?"

"I got this."

"Nepeta I-I don't think you do-"

"Just hold on."

"Nepeta this is a really bad idea!"

"Just hold still!"

"But Nepeta you-OW!"

"Whoops, sorry!"

Tavros breathed sharply through his nose and tried not to scream, the pain still radiating from where Nepeta's knee hit him in the groin. He was currently in the most uncomfortable position he'd ever been in; Nepeta was in his lap facing away from him, her knees balancing on top of his, and no longer causing him great pain in his nether-regions.

They had finished their workday, but were staying after for the dreaded cleaning of the fish tanks. They finished cleaning the smaller tanks and were ready to work on the larger tanks, when they realized that the step-stool was broken.

The part that kept it erect had broken, and it wouldn't stay up. This was a problem because Nepeta was too short to reach into the tanks, and it was obvious Tavros was unable to do it. This of course, led to Nepeta coming to the conclusion that the obvious thing to do would be to climb into Tavros' lap, and use him to reach the tank.

"Almost done," Nepeta said. She arched up further, somehow managing to her skinny chicken legs to balance on top of Tavros' own. Tavros was certain that if he could feel his legs he would be cringing at Nepeta's bony knees digging into the tops of his thighs; but he could definitely feel her tiny feet occasionally smacking him in the stomach when she moved.

She finally finished and hopped off of the wheel-chaired young man, much to his relief. He was comfortable around Nepeta most of the time, but that was pushing it.

"Oki doki," she chirped, bending her back. "That was a bit of a challenge, but I think that we can get this down on the next one."

"Um Nep, I uh, don't think we should do that again."

"But then how am I going to clean them?"

"Uh…" Tavros pointed his finger to the corner, where an unused medium dog cage stood.

"Oh, yeah. Probably should have used that first," she laughed awkwardly. The cage proved to be much more stable than Tavros' lap, and the job of cleaning the tanks went much smoother. The whole time Nepeta kept grilling him about Gamzee, to which Tavros, much embarrassed, tried to answer as vaguely as possible to indicate he wished for a subject change. As he tried answering her questions, it occurred to him just how little he knew about the man in his apartment.

He and Nepeta locked up and said their goodbyes, as each began the trip home. As he wheeled down the side-walk, the young man was caught off guard by the sudden burst of lightning in the sky, almost immediately followed by drizzling rain. He rushed home as fast as he could, but by the time he was inside he was drenched.

He opened his apartment door, and saw Gamzee once again glued to the couch. The musician looked up and his eyes widened at the miserable pile of wet clothes and shivering Puerto Rican that was Tavros.

"Whoa Tavbro," he said, muting what appeared to be Harold and Kumar playing on the T.V.

"What happened?"

"Got caught in the rain," Tavros explained as he wiped his flattened mohawk to stop the droplets getting in his eyes.

"When'd it start motherfuckin' raining?"

"A couple minutes ago, you didn't hear the thunder?"

"Nope."

Tavros took the answer and started wheeling to the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a bath okay?"

"A'ight man."

Tavros wheeled into the bathroom and began the awkward task of bathing. His bathroom was like a broom closet, and he was lucky to be able to get his chair into the room, and once in there was little room. He took off his clothes and set them on the counter, and then grabbed a towel from the cabinet. Setting the towel on the closed toilet, he turned the shower knobs and waited for the water to heat up. Once it did, he maneuvered himself out of his chair and into the bath. His shower was actually a bathtub and shower combined, and he would sit in tub as if to take a bath, but would use the showerhead like he was taking a shower. It was something he did even before he became paralyzed, especially in the mornings when he was too tired or too lazy to stand the whole time.

He grabbed his soap and began washing away the day's grime. He lathered himself up until he was covered in soap, surrounded by the smell of tangerine and honeysuckle. He rinsed it off and reached for his shampoo, but was puzzled when he didn't find it in his usual spot. He looked around but couldn't find it, until he looked up. He groaned when he saw his shampoo sitting on the shelf, and out of his reach. He kept all of his products on the edge of the tub since he had to sit in the tub, and figured that Gamzee must have put it up there when he used the shower.

Letting out a frustrated breath, he began to think about how he was going to get the bottle. He got an idea, though it wasn't a good one. He grabbed the soap bar and aimed it at the shampoo, with the plan to knock it down. He did hit it, but it only moved slightly to the edge. Not giving up, he grabbed the conditioner, a much heavier projectile, and threw it.

On the one hand, he hit the shampoo bottle; on the other hand it hit him in the head. Taros hissed at the pain in his head, and flinched at the loud echoing sound of the bottle slamming on the bottle of the tub. Tavros rubbed his head, but thought nothing of it. At least, until Gamzee busted in through the door.

"Hey man you okay?"

Tavros was frozen in shock, before shrieking (in the manliest of ways he would later defend) and pulling the shower curtain closed.

"G-Gamzee what the hell?!"

"I heard a bang and you yell, so I wanted to make sure you were motherfuckin okay."

"I-I'm fine I uh just dropped the shampoo bottle," stammered Tavros.

"Oh, a'ight man." Just like that he left, but now Tavros was sure that the water around him was boiling with the embarrassed heat radiating off of him.

_'Damn it why can't he knock?!'_

Tavros survived his shower without further incident. He all but zoomed into his room to prevent Gamzee from seeing him in nothing but a towel. He changed into sweatpants and an oversized Pokémon shirt, and rolled into the living room. While he was changing he thought about what to do with Gamzee. The offer to stay had implied it was only for one night, but the storm raging outside was making him think that it may extend to tonight as well. He wasn't about to kick him out when it was raining after all.

He voiced this to Gamzee.

"So s-since it's raining again, y-you can stay tonight too. I mean uh, if you w-want to."

"Sure man," Gamzee smiled. "As long as it's cool with you."

"Um, can I see the remote?" The musician handed him the remote and Tavros switched the television to the weather. Tavros' heart sunk when it was announced that there would be rain all week. He looked at Gamzee, who was now tuning his guitar, and thought about what he was going to do. What started out as a one night thing had now blown up into something more. Of course he wasn't about to let Gamzee leave with weather like this, he knew that very well. He knew that even though the thought of somebody staying with him for an extended amount of time terrified him, he wasn't the type of guy to not help somebody just because of his selfish feelings.

"H-hey, Gamzee?"

"Yeah?"

"S-so the rain's gonna be going on all week, s-so I was uh, thinking that you could m-maybe-"

"Tav." Tavros was surprised by the seriousness in Gamzee's voice. He looked up and saw the musician was looking at him, stoic though not harsh.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Look man, you lettin' me stay here and all is motherfuckin' awesome. Seriously bro, you are bitch-tits wicked. But I ain't gonna keep moochin' if it becomes a burden to ya-"

"No!" Tavros interrupted. The surprised look on Gamzee's face made Tavros realize how panicked he sounded.

"I-I mean…" he looked away. "It's n-not a burden, a-and um it'll just be for the rest of the week. Y-y-you don't have t-to and you can uh leave whenever you want but uh, I just want you to know th-that, you can stay here if you want t-to…"

Tavros looked up to see Gamzee's reaction. The bard had a gentle smile on his painted face.

"Thanks man," he said, giving Tavros a pat on the back that nearly knocked him from his chair. After he recovered from his almost-fall, Tavros joined Gamzee, who graciously moved over to make room for him, on the couch, and the two spent the rest of the night scrolling through channels watching bits of shows before switching come commercial, and Tavros thought to himself that one more week of Gamzee Makara may not be the worst thing that could happen to him.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE****: THERE SHE IS!**

**Not much to say, just tell me whatcha think about the latest chapter! Favs, follows and reviews are well loved!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S**** NOTES: **

** Just a quick heads up this chapter is going to be a tad longer than usual. Hopefully y'all don't mind and it'll make up for the fact that it may take a while until the next update.**

**SHOUT OUT! to socksophrenia for adding to the list of my wonderful followers and favers, and everyone else already following and favouring, as well as guests just reading for funsies; all of you guys rule!**

**WARNING: Flashbacks, descriptions of violence, depression, drug use, etc.**

**Any who, on with the story! **

Tavros rolled down the hall of his apartment floor, humming the Pokémon theme to himself as he glided down the tiled hallway. Once he reached his door he fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the weathered door.

"I'm home," he called as he entered his abode.

"Welcome back, my invertabrother," answered the thin man strung out on his couch. As Tavros wheeled towards his room, he could smell something cooking in the kitchen.

"Hey Gamzee, what's uh for dinner?" he called back to the other man.

"Fajitas and rice."

Tavros approved the night's menu, as did his rumbling stomach. He closed the door to his room and began to change, hearing Gamzee get up off the couch, most likely to continue making dinner. As he changed out of his khakis and turtle neck, and into some sweats, he looked back on his situation with the enigma known as Gamzee Makara.

The week of bad weather had passed, and finally there were some clear skies and relatively decent temperatures. Tavros never specifically stated that Gamzee's time in his apartment had expired, that was waaaay too forward for him and he would panic at just the thought of trying to tell him to leave, and just expected that the bard would leave as he said he would. But with every day that passed, Tavros would go to work and come home to find Gamzee lying on his couch, or in the kitchen making food. This went on for a while with neither men bringing it up at all.

Then one day Tavros came home and Gamzee wasn't there. He should have been relieved that his home was his again, and that he no longer had to feel uncomfortable and anxious about having somebody living with him. But he realized that, somewhere during those days with the homeless man's stay that he had stopped feeling any anxiety or discomfort with regards to Gamzee's presence, and had begun to enjoy coming home to the strange man strumming on his guitar or making a mess of his kitchen. Instead of being relieved, all he felt was a big hole open up inside him, like something had been lost.

So imagine his surprise when not ten minutes later, Gamzee came through the door, grocery bags in hand, and proceeded to make them a cheesecake for dinner: just a cheesecake

And he never felt happier.

Five months later this was still the routine, and it became an unspoken agreement that Gamzee was there to stay. Tavros never imagined that this was how he was going to acquire a roommate, but the passive way Gamzee wormed his way into Tavros' home seemed appropriate for the passive Tavros.

Once changed, Tavros wheeled back into the living room and saw that Gamzee had finished his cooking and was setting up two T.V trays for them to eat on the couch. He wheeled over and hopped onto the sofa, giving a big whiff to the plate of food in front of him.

"I'm gonna get it this time, man," Gamzee said as he sat down.

"I doubt it," Tavros replied, cutting into his fajita with his fork.

"Ah come on man, you know what they say, third time's the motherfuckin' charm."

"Yeah, but the third try was four tries ago."

Gamzee pouted, a funny look with his clown paint on. Ever since the first night of Gamzee's stay he had worn his face-paint religiously and never took it off in front of Tavros, so he hadn't seen his face scars since then. He was still curious about what caused the bard's disfigurement, but he had yet to ask about it, thinking that Gamzee would tell him when he wanted to.

Tavros turned the television on and switched it to Cartoon Network, which was playing Pokémon: The First Movie, which was the reason why they were eating on the couch. They watched the film and talked between bites of delicious Mexican cuisine, Tavros enjoying the nostalgia of one of his favourite childhood movies.

Once the movie ended, and their food was thoroughly devoured, Tavros sat back and patted his stomach, feeling the satisfying weight in his gut that came with eating a fulfilling meal. He sensed he was being watched, and looked over and saw that Gamzee was staring at him expectantly.

"What?"

"Come on man you gotta tell me!"

"Oh…"

"Tell me that ain't the best fajita you ever ate. Better than what your dede* makes right?"

Tavros shifted awkwardly on the sofa.

"S-sorry, but uh, no."

Gamzee's face deflated. "You sure?"

"Y-yeah."

"Aw man." Gamzee slumped back on the couch, arms crossed.

"And I was motherfuckin sure today was gonna be the day," he grumbled.

"I-I-I'm not saying it was bad!" Tavros stuttered. "It was delicious, but abuelo* is a really good cook."

When they became roommates, Gamzee took over cooking meals. There were still many days where they nourished themselves on instant ramen and bags of chips, but most of the time Gamzee could take relatively simple ingredients and make all sorts of things; Tavros had never eaten better, but he was certain that he was gaining weight. Most of the food was standard things, along with a lot of Turkish cuisine, but now that he had permanent access to a kitchen, Gamzee started to experiment with his culinary prowess. When he decided to give a go at some Hispanic foods, Tavros mentioned that nobody made Mexican food better than his grandfather, to which Gamzee vowed to surpass him and make Tavros something that would quote, "Blow the skull-caps off your motherfuckin taste buds, bro!"

So for the past week Tavros ate Mexican every night, not that he complained. It had been a long time since he'd had decent Mexican food, the closest being Taco Bell. He found Gamzee's determination to impress him both amusing and endearing, and it reminded him of dinners back home.

While he and Gamzee did the dishes, he thought about his family, and how long it had been since he had seen them, or called them. He didn't mean to not keep in touch, but both his grandfather and his brother tended to be busy people, and Tavros didn't like to spring in on them.

The dishes were done, and while Tavros put away the leftovers, Gamzee lumbered back to the living room and flopped onto the couch. The couch had become Gamzee's domain, and it looked almost incomplete without the bard's lanky form sprawled out on top of it. It was where he slept and spent most of his time. Tavros told him that he could unfold the futon in it to sleep on, but Gamzee was content to sleep on it how it was. Tavros wondered what the ancient furniture was doing to Gamzee's spine, but said nothing.

Tavros heard the familiar click of a lighter, and glanced over at Gamzee. He held the flame to the joint in his hand before pulling it away to give it a puff.

Tavros twitched his nose at the plume of smoke that flew out of Gamzee's mouth as he tilted his head back and blew out the herbal cloud. He remembered when he first discovered Gamzee's drug habit. It was about two weeks after Gamzee's stay became permanent…

_Tavros opened the door to his apartment and was startled by the cloud of smoke and strange smell that wafted around him. At first he thought that something had been set on fire, until he saw the smoke's origin was a small white roll resting between Gamzee's fingers._

_ "Gamzee!" Tavros gasped._

"_Wassup man?" Gamzee laughed as he took another hit._

_ Tavros was gaping like a fish, still clutching the doorknob in his hand. Gamzee looked up at Tavros with a confused face._

_ "What's wrong with you man?" he asked, drawing his voice out. His eyes were red like he had allergies, his speech was slower, and he had a dopey smile on his face._

_ "What's wrong with me?!" Tavros huffed. "Gamzee you are smoking marijuana!"_

_Gamzee broke out into giggles, his head lolling to the side._

_ "Why you sayin' it all fancy like that man? Ya sound all motherfuckin' classy and shit."_

"_Gamzee this isn't funny."_

_ "Why yes indeed my good Tavy-wavy-tatter-tot, I am indeed smoking the motherfuckin mari-jew-wannuh," Gamzee replied in a horrible attempt at a British accent._

_ "I said this isn't funny Gamzee!" Tavros shouted, trying to filter out the weed smoke by breathing into his hoodie sleeve._

_ Tavros' upset voice made Gamzee's smile falter, but it quickly recovered._

"_Why are you upset bro?" he asked innocently, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy. _

_ "Here, you want some?" he asked, offering Tavros the joint._

"_Get that away from me!" Tavros yelled, smacking the bard's hand away. He wheeled so fast into his room that he didn't see the hurt and confused look on Gamzee's face. He slammed the door behind him and threw himself onto his bed, trying to block out the bad memories that had begun to surface. He felt a panic attack coming on and had to control his breathing to keep himself from hyperventilating. Once his breath was stilled he continued to lay face down on his bed, burying his face into his pillow. _

_ He didn't know how long he laid there before he heard the hesitant knock on his door._

_ "Tav?"_

_He didn't answer._

_ "Tav can I come in?"_

_Still nothing._

_ "Tav please can you answer a motherfucker?"_

_Silence._

_ "Tavbro please, can I come in?"_

_Tavros still didn't reply, but this time Gamzee let himself in. He stood there in the doorway for a moment, before Tavros could hear him pad over to the bed._

_ "Tavros?" At the sound of his full name being used, Tavros turned his head to look at Gamzee. His eyes were still red and the herbal smell still clung to him like a cloak, but the concerned look on his face was still prominent._

_ "Tav I'm sorry," he said. He sounded very sincere, and Tavros felt some of his anger subside._

"_It's okay," he mumbled. "It's just...to be honest drugs are a sore subject for me, and I don't like suddenly finding them being used under my roof."_

_ There were the subtle signs of a backstory that even the drug-addled Gamzee could detect._

"_Wanna talk about it?" he asked._

_ "N-not really." The awkward silence could have been cut with a butter knife. Tavros looked up again and saw Gamzee was still there, curiosity still lingering in his eyes. He sighed._

_ "Do you really wanna know?"_

_Gamzee nodded. Tavros bit his lip, contemplating whether he was really about to resurrect this particular ghost. He pulled himself into a sitting position and patted the space next to him, inviting Gamzee to sit down. He looked down at his lap, and felt the mattress dip when Gamzee sat down._

_ "S-so I n-never told you about how I got in my wheelchair right?"_

"_Nope."_

_ "W-w-well…" He wrung his hands nervously._

"_It was in h-highschool. I wasn't really popular, but I had a c-couple friends. We were all in the role-play club, y-you know: dressing up, card games, paper-pencil stuff…" Bittersweet nostalgia colored his face._

_ "It-it was a lot of fun. That's where I met Nepeta, the girl I work with. It was us and some others. T-there was this one girl named Aradia. Her older sister and my older brother used to date, so we hung out a lot. She was really nice, even though she was obsessed with dead things. Terezi was kinda crazy, b-but in a cool way. She was obsessed with Law and Order, and she really liked dragons. And then there w-was Vriska…" At the mention of this last person he grew darker._

_ "Sh-she wasn't the nicest person, but she was a really good player. She and Terezi came up with a lot of our RPs and they were always really good ones, she was committed to the game, was always so confident and so sure of herself, and I well, wasn't. I kinda liked her, even if she did pick on me a lot. She was rivals with this one guy, Eridan. He wasn't actually a part of the club, and kinda just showed up to mess with us. She would get so competitive with him and got really into it."_

_ Tavros began to grow even more uneasy._

_ "There was this one summer, when we were sophomores. Terezi invited us to her family's cabin in the woods to camp and role-play. It was me and Aradia vs Terezi and Vriska and at first it started out fine, the same way we always did it."_

_ "But Aradia and I were beating them, which actually didn't happen very often, and it made Vriska mad. She found me and we started to duel, and I noticed she was going at it more seriously than usual. Even after she won she didn't let up. She started calling me names, saying how I was weak and that it was her job to cull all those beneath her. She unsheathed her sword and that's when I realized it wasn't dull like it usually was, it was sharpened to a point."_

_ Tavros gulped. "She started jabbing at me and I kept backing up. I-I-I told her that it was just a game and to calm down, b-b-but she didn't listen. W-we were on this cliff that looked out on the lake, and she got me right up to the edge. And then…"_

_Tavros had to take a breath. "She pushed me off the cliff."_

_Tavros heard Gamzee gasp and he looked up. His bloodshot eyes were wide and his lips were slightly parted._

"_Shit, bro," he said._

"_There were rocks at the bottom, and I fell right on them. I don't even remember hitting them, I just blacked out." Tavros looked away, not wanting to see Gamzee's expression at what he was about to say. _

"_I was out of it and didn't learn what else happened until later. Apparently Aradia had just been coming over when she saw Vriska push me. She flipped out and told Vriska that she was going to tell, and when she went t-to go help me, Vriska hit her in the head with a rock." Tavros gulped._

_ "Sh-she split her h-head open and there w-was b-b-blood everywhere…Terezi found them and Vriska warned her not to tell, but she said she was going to go get her mom. They started fighting and Terezi messed up Vriska's arm really bad. I don't even know where she got it, but Vriska had this little bottle of bleach a-and...and she threw it in T-Terezi's eyes."_

_ "Holy shit man…"_

"_Yeah," Tavros choked, struggling to keep his emotions down._

"_T-Terezi's mom found us and we were all in the hospital for a while."_

_The smaller male stroked his leg absentmindedly._

"_When I woke up I couldn't feel anything from my upper thighs down, and the doctor told us that I had broken my spine on the rocks, and that I wasn't going to walk ag-again. Aradia suffered brain-damage so bad that she went into a coma." Tavros shuddered. _

"_I remember visiting her. She looked like a robot, hooked up to all of those machines. She didn't wake up for almost half a year. The bleach ended up b-blinding Terezi-"_

_This was where Tavros started to get really emotional. He began to sniffle and tried his best to keep the tears from leaving his eyes. He felt Gamzee pat his back in an awkward attempt to comfort him. The gesture was well appreciated, as Tavros managed to keep himself somewhat together. _

"_Sh-she got really good at using her nose and ears to get around." He gave a humourless chuckle._

"_She'd even lick things to know what they tasted like." _

"_What happened to that Vriska motherfucker?"_

_Tavros' face became stony. "Vriska's arm was ruined. Terezi twisted it really bad and it also got broken in a couple places. She ended up getting it amputated. Plus some of the bleach ended up getting in one of her eyes and she lost sight in it."_

_ "After she was well enough to leave the hospital there was a trial. Terezi's mom was a big time prosecutor and wanted to try her as an adult, but her defence attorney tried entering an insanity plea. She pleaded guilty and got sent to a juvenile prison. I don't know what happened to her afterwards."_

_ Tavros looked at Gamzee, and saw his face was blank. "You're probably wondering what this has to do with drugs right?"_

_ Gamzee nodded._

_ "I was in the hospital for a while before I could go home. I couldn't feel my legs, but that didn't mean I still wasn't in pain. I had cracked and bruised ribs, and I broke my wrist. When they gave me painkillers it just washed all the aches and hurt away. That's when I started to get depressed. It didn't hit me right away that I was never going to walk again. I kept thinking that one day I'd just wake up and magically I'd be able to move my legs, but that never happened."_

_ Tavros laid his head in his hands._

"_It was all too much: the pain, physical therapy, the police reports, the trial, finding out what happened to the others, not to mention my family being so sad all the time. I just wanted to lie in bed all day. The only time I wasn't miserable was when they pumped me full of Valium. It made me feel like all my problems were a million miles away, but then it'd wear off and I'd feel like shit all over again. I started asking for it even when my back wasn't hurting, and after my back was fully healed, I lied and said it still hurt so I could get more. I just wanted to drown everything out and just feel that wonderful obliviousness. Once they finally stop prescribing the Valium I just started using anything I could find: Tylenol, Advil, I even binged on cold medicine and cough drops."_

_His vision became blurry as his eyes welled up again._

_ "My brother was the one who finally caught me. I don't know why he was in my room, or what he was looking for, but he found the drawer where I was hoarding all the pill bottles. We started fighting, just screaming each other at first. But then he said he was going to take them and flush them a-and."_

_He swallowed, but the lump in his throat did not go away._

"_I lost it," he whispered. "I started hitting him and trying to get the pills back. I-I-I punched him so hard I broke his nose."_

_That was where he could hold back no longer. He began to cry ugly sobs, uncaring as to how he looked to the other man._

"_H-h-he just looked at m-me, like h-he was scared, just h-holding his nose," he cried._

"_It was h-h-h-horrible…I was horrible." _

_ That was when the unexpected happened. Tavros found himself pressed into a black-clad chest and felt a bony hand run through his mohawk._

_ "It ain't your fault man."_

"_It-it was. I w-w-went crazy and hurt somebody. I was n-no better than Vris-s-ska-"_

_ "You ain't nothing like that motherfucker!" Gamzee hissed. He pulled back and looked Tavros directly in the eyes._

_ "You the best dude I ever motherfuckin' did meet. Don't you go sayin' shit like that 'bout yourself, you got it?"_

_ The words pierced Tavros' heart like an arrow. With a quivering lip, and a tiny whimper, he nodded, before dissolving into sobs again, but this time he had a Turkish chest to cry into. They stayed that way for a while, with Tavros weeping into the other man's chest, and the other simply stroking his back with one hand, the other petting his mohawk affectionately. _

_ By the time he'd calmed down Tavros' eyes were sore and there was a large wet spot on Gamzee's shirt._

_ "S-s-sorry about that," Tavros hiccupped as he wiped his cheeks._

"_Ain't nothin' man," Gamzee dismissed. "If a motherfucker don't leave a feelin's jam with a wet shirt, he ain't doin' it right."_

_ That made Tavros laugh, and made some of the heaviness lift from him._

"_So how long you been clean then?"_

"_Seven years clean," Tavros replied._

"_I got counselling, and then had to get a shrink to try and help with my depression."_

_ "That's good, man."_

"_So you understand why I have a problem with drugs?"_

_ "Yeah…" Gamzee carted a hand through his thick curly hair._

"_Yeah I get that man, but Tavbro you gotta understand. I got...issues, and the weed's the only thing that helps."_

_ "What kind of problems?"_

"_It keeps me chill, keeps my mind from getting all spikey."_

_ "Spikey?" Tavros asked, confused._

"_It's like...when I'm sober my head's full of needles that keep stabbing me in the think-pan, and the dope puts cotton balls on the tips so that it's all soft and I can think. And it stops me from hurting things."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

"_I'm a nasty motherfucker when I'm sober, Tav. Trust me; I'm a nasty piece of shit that I don't want anyone to see, especially you. It just...it's my medicine, it lets me live man. If you still don't want it up in your crib, I get it, and I'll leave."_

_Tavros thought long and hard about it. Though it was against his better judgment, he decided that he didn't want Gamzee to leave, and was willing to live with the bard's habit. It was obvious that Gamzee never went overboard with the drug, seeing as how it took Tavros this long just to find out that he was using it. Gamzee also seemed very sincere when he said that he didn't use it just for kicks and that he needed it. Still, it didn't mean that he was gung-ho about the situation. _

_ A few conditions were set up. One: Gamzee was never to offer any to Tavros or push him to partake. _

_ Two: the window had to be open so that the smoke would not suffocate the whole room._

_Three: Gamzee should at least try and have most of his smoking be when Tavros wasn't around or in the same room. It wasn't strictly enforced, but Tavros didn't want to be tempted by the presence of the drug. He didn't really feel a pull towards it, since it wasn't pills and he had always detested cigarettes, but he wanted to be careful…_

Tavros shook his head as he rolled to his room. That night he'd shared more about his past than he ever thought he would. He never consciously decided to never tell Gamzee about his past, but if he was going to he felt like it would have taken a while longer and that it would come in bits and pieces. However, in that moment he just felt like confessing it all. He'd never admitted so much about how he felt during those dark times, even to his shrink. He was glad that Gamzee was a good listener and was understanding. For the longest time Tavros believed that he had nothing in common with his eccentric new roommate, and it felt nice to finally have something they both could relate to: albeit a more happy subject would have been nicer.

He rolled into his room and went to his desk, where his laptop lay. He booted it up and sent his brother a message.

**adiosToreador began pestering anaranjadoTenshi* at 21:00**

**AT: uH,,,hEY rUFIOH,**

**AT: bangarang! what's up l1l bro? haven't heard from you 1n forever! **

**AT: s-sORRY IT'S UH,,,bEEN A WHILE**

**AT: 1t's cool }:)**

**AT: }:)**

**AT: so what's been happenin'?**

**AT: nOTHING mUCH,,,jUST WANTED TO SAY HI SINCE uH I HAVEN'T TALKED TO YOU OR ABUELO MUCH,**

**AT: everyth1ng's been cool, not much sh*t goes on around here ya know?**

**AT: y-yEAH,,,**

**AT: OH! that rem1nds me!**

**AT: wHAT?**

**AT: you free next weekend?**

**AT: wHY?**

**AT: 1've met somebody, and 1 really th1nk you guys need to meet,**

**AT: th-thAT'S GREAT rUFIOH!**

**AT: hehe yeah he's a keeper. h1s name's horuss and 1 met h1m when abuelo sent me 1nto town to f1x the truck, he works at the repa1r shop,**

**AT: hE?**

**AT: what? you know 1 sw1ng both ways,**

**AT: i-i kNOW! i jUST dIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE DATING A GUY,,,**

**AT: well you do now! but anyway, abuelo f1nally f1xed the gr1ll and is hav1ng a cook-out next saturday, horuss w1ll be there too so your a** better be there too**

**AT: aLRIGHT, i cAN'T WAIT TO MEET HIM**

**AT: hehe yeah, guess what?**

**AT: wHAT?**

**AT: he's hawt };)**

**AT: *fACE PALM***

**AT: oh hush l1l bro, at least 1 have somebody, unless there's someth1ng you're h1ding tavy~**

**AT: i-i'M NOT HIDING ANYTHING!**

**AT: };)**

**AT: }:[**

**AT: alr1ght 1'll lay off, but feel free to br1ng somebody, s1nce you know how much food abuelo makes,**

**AT: i TOLD YOU I'M NOT SEEING ANYBODY**

**AT: dude relax 1 never said you had to br1ng a date, br1ng a friend, l1ke that cat ch1ck you work w1th**

**AT: o-oKAY**

**AT: sweet, talk to you later herman1to,**

**AT: kAY,,,LATER rUFIOH,**

**adiosToreador ceased pestering anaranjadoTenshi at 21:10**

Tavros logged off and closed his laptop. He was happy that his brother had found somebody, and was wondering what this guy was like. He was excited to go back home after so long.

"Yo Tavbro get in here "The Wiz" is starting!"

'_Oh that's right!'_ thought Tavros. He thought about whether or not he should invite Gamzee to come along. He hadn't told his family about his new roommate; not that he deliberately chose not to inform him, it simply slipped his mind. Despite living with the bard for months now, he wasn't sure whether they were far enough in their relationship for him to meet his family-

_'Wait…relationship?!' _

Tavros blushed and shook his head. He was being silly, he convinced himself. He was of course talking about their relationship as two platonically connected men sharing the same apartment.

...Right?

Now Tavros really doubted taking Gamzee along, especially when he started thinking about all the various ways his older brother could tease him. He decided that it would be best if he went alone. It would be the first time since they started living together that he would be away overnight, but Gamzee could fend for himself.

He rolled into the living room to tell his roommate his plans.

"H-hey Gamzee?"

The musician turned to the other male.

"What's up man?" he asked, flashing a smile that was unique to Gamzee; part smirk and part dopey endearing grin that made his eyes crinkle up and accentuate the dimple he had on the right side of his mouth.

...Not that Tavros had noticed.

Said lad felt something stir in himself, and by what had to be divine intervention (or possibly demonic possession, either one seemed logical) he found himself asking:

"Have you ever been to a farm?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****GOOD GOLLY GEE IT'S FINALLY DONE!**

** Wow this was a long one. I didn't intend for it to be THAT long, though to be fair the flashback took up most of it. Sorry that most of this chapter was angst, but I had this idea that Tavros had a drug/depression problem due to his disability and I really wanted to explore it. I was deciding whether or not that part should have been in present or as a flashback, but I just felt like it worked better in flashback, and didn't think it should've been its own chapter. Also, I tried to make the incident with Vriska and the gang as close to the canon events as possible, tell me whether you liked my take on it!**

**Translations and explanations:**

**Dede: Turkish for grandpa**

**Abuelo: Spanish for grandfather**

**Hermanito: Spanish for little brother**

**anaranjadoTenshi: I needed to come up with a pesterchum handle for Rufioh, since the alphas don't have them. I wanted his handle to have the same letters as Tavros, just to make it easier. Anaranjado is the Spanish word for the colour orange, not to be confused with naranja which is the Spanish word for the fruit orange, and I chose it because of course he is an orange blood (or bronze to be specific) and I wanted to keep the Spanish theme going, since Tav has the Spanish word Toreador. Tenshi is Japanese for angel, and I chose it to relate to the fact that Rufioh loves anime and is a weeaboo, and also because he has wings.**

**Sorry for being so wordy!**

**Feel free to make suggestions or ask questions my darlings!**

**Favs and follows are love! 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**** HOLA BITCHES!**

**Sorry it's been so long, I am still grounded from my laptop, and I am sneaking this in at 12:22 am while my mother is asleep (I'm so conniving XD)**

**Shout-outs to EnbyQuinn, thatsydkid19, LexxieKra, HomestuckTail98, MJVin, TKaiaWolf, RoyalInBlue, iamsheep37, tavrosismybaby12, Saixxine109 and bookworm4ever81 along with everyone else already faving and following!**

** JUST A HEAD'S UP! LOT OF SPANISH IN THIS CHAPTER TRANSLATIONS ARE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTES.**

Tavros watched the road intently, his eyes scanning over the horizon. Had he any use of his legs, one of them would have been surly bouncing with impatience as he sat there waiting for his ride to arrive.

'_Their ride,'_ he had to remind himself.

"Hey Tav?"

"Yeah?"

"You guys got any motherfuckin' goats?"

"Uh, n-no?"

"Man, are you motherfuckin' sure?"

"G-Gamzee I grew up there, I'm pretty sure I'd know if we had goats on our property."

"…So y'all ain't got any goats?"

"No, um, sorry."

"Aw man, y'all ain't got no goats?"

"Gam I just said that."

Tavros looked down where Gamzee was squatting on the pavement, arm wrapped around the neck of his guitar case like it was his date. He appeared genuinely heart-broken that his goat-seeing dreams were for not.

"S-sorry," Tavros said.

Gamzee mumbled something from his pouted lips, and Tavros thought that it was rather amusing. It amazed Tavros how much of a child his roommate could be, even though Tavros himself was younger.

Tavros turned his gaze away from the sad clown and back to the road, scouting the street like a sniper. They had been waiting for the past twenty minutes, and even though he knew when his ride was coming, he was so excited that he got himself and Gamzee ready earlier than necessary. He lit up when he finally saw the familiar old truck rolling up, and was grinning with glee as it parked beside the sidewalk. He poked Gamzee's shoulder to get the man's attention.

"He's here!" he cheered, pointing to the truck. "I can't wait for you guys to meet."

"Sweet, man," said Gamzee as he stood up.

The door to the truck opened and the driver hopped out. He strode over to Tavros with arms open.

"Hermanito!"

"Rufioh!" Tavros smiled as his brother bent down to hug him. Rufioh gave Tavros' back a couple of pats, which to Tavros felt more like back-breaking slaps.

"¿Qué tal?" Asked Rufioh after releasing his brother.

"El cielo."Tavros quipped.

The elder Nitram rolled his eyes and playfully punched Tavros in the arm.

"Don't get sassy with me, smartass," he said with mock seriousness.

"Yeah sure, because you're never a smartass."

"Nope, my ass is perfectly dumb."

"Ruf...I think you just called yourself a dumbass."

Rufioh blinked.

"Mierda,"he whispered under his breath, making Tavros laugh.

There was no doubt that Rufioh Nitram was Tavros' brother. They had the same tan skin, Rufioh's being just a little darker than Tavros', and practically the same face, with Rufioh's being more squared with age. He had box-dyed black hair with bright red tips that was cut in a wild spikey mohawk. He was average height and was well muscled, though not enough to be considered buff. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the sleeves and sides cut off, depicting an anime girl holding a ridiculously big gun, ripped jeans, and scuffed black boots.

Tavros loved his big brother. While he did sometimes feel overshadowed by him growing up, what with Rufioh being much more outgoing and therefore more popular, he always had time for his little brother, and they were both very close.

The elder Nitram seemed to finally notice the presence of the man next to Tavros.

"Who are you?" he asked politely, while discreetly looking him up and down.

"O-oh uh…" Tavros regretted not explaining the situation with Gamzee during him and his brother's last chat session, but he somehow got it in his head that it would be better in person.

Stupid, stupid Tavros.

He hoped it wouldn't be awkward, but Tavros could tell Rufioh was trying not to appear alarmed by Gamzee's appearance, which is not an easy thing to do when there is a tall black-clad clown looming behind his brother.

"Uh Rufioh, this is, um, Gamzee. Gamzee th-this is my big brother Rufioh."

Rufioh nodded politely, but he still looked like he was trying to make a connection between his brother and this strange man.

"Nice to meet you," Rufioh said, extending his hand. Instead of shaking it, Gamzee gave him a high-five.

"Likewise, motherfucker."

"The hell did you just call me?!"

"No, no, no, no, no Ruf wait!" The angry look on Rufioh's face had Tavros putting his hands up defensibly.

"It's ok-kay he didn't mean anything. H-he just calls everyone that."

"Oh really?"

Tavros nodded nervously. Rufioh relaxed his fist, but he still eyed Gamzee suspiciously. Tavros saw Rufioh eyeing up Gamzee again and he grew tense, sensing this meeting wouldn't go as smooth as he had hoped.

"¿Quién es él?" Rufioh whispered to Tavros.

"Um, el es mi compañero de cuarto."

"¿¡Qué?!"

Rufioh glanced at Gamzee again, before turning back to his brother.

**(A/N: Note that from now on if you see dialogue that is in "italics" it means that they are speaking in Spanish, unless it is during a flashback. This is so that I won't have long lines of just Spanish, and also so that I won't risk any errors since Spanish only is my second language and I am not an expert. 'Italics with just one quotation' still mean that they are thoughts.) **

"_How long have you had a roommate?" _

"_Uh...f-five months."_

"_Five months?! And you never said anything?"_

"_W-well I s-sorta forgot…"_

"_How do you know this guy?"_

"_Well I met h-him on my way home from work one day, a-and he needed a place to say so-"_

"_So you just let a stranger stay in your house?!"_

"_Rufioh please he's right there,"_

"_Please, he can't understand us."_

_ "Y-yeah well I still don't want you saying mean things about him."_

"_I don't trust him, he looks shady."_

"_Hey don't say that! Gamzee's really n-nice and he's a good guy. We met when I fell out of my chair and he helped me back in."_

Rufioh's eyes softened, but he still wouldn't let up.

"_He's dressed up like the Joker's emo cousin."_

"_I-I know."_

"_Tav it's creepy."_

"Hey bros," Gamzee cut in. "I hate to butt in my Mexican bros, but I ain't got no idea what you two are sayin'."

"S-sorry Gamzee," Tavros apologized, switching back to English.

"We were just talking, right Ruf?"

"Yeah," Rufioh said warily, knowing that the language switch meant that they were done talking.

"You guy ready to go. Tavros?"

"Yeah, _we're_ ready," Tavros said, emphasizing the '_we_._'_

Rufioh grabbed the handles of Tavros' wheelchair and wheeled him to the truck. He opened the back door to the truck, bent down and slipped one arm under Tavros' knees, the other under his arms. Tavros put his arms around Rufioh's neck as his brother lifted him up and set him in the seat. He got himself more comfortable and did his seat belt while Rufioh took his chair around back to put it in the truck bed. The other passenger door opened and Gamzee hopped in, pulling his guitar case in with him.

"Y-you know, you could always just put that in the truck bed," Tavros suggested as he watched Gamzee struggle to arrange the cumbersome case.

"Nah man it's fine," he said, finally settling the case between his legs. The cumbersome case was practically sitting on top of the bard, and Tavros didn't understand why Gamzee didn't just put in the space between the two of them.

Rufioh climbed into the front seat and revved up the engine.

"You guys ready?"

"Yes."

"Yup."

"Alright," Rufioh said, pulling out of park and driving away.

The ride started out awkward, with none of the three men talking. Rufioh was still very suspicious of this stranger he just found out had been living with his brother, as protective big brothers usually did. Tavros could sense the 'No me gusta" waves his brother was producing, as well as how oblivious Gamzee was to him; he didn't know if this made the situation better or worse. He was worried that they were never going to get along, which would make the rest of the day very uncomfortable for him. However, as soon as Rufioh turned on the radio, Tavros found the bride he'd been searching for. The music was some obscure dubstep Tavros had never heard of, but Gamzee seemed to be familiar with it as he exclaimed that it was awesome. This set off a long and arduous conversation with Rufioh and Gamzee talking about their favourite music, most of their music tastes being similar, and the two began to click better than Tavros expected. The conversation went from music to favourite movies, as it turned out they also liked a lot of the same films, to talking about their tattoos.

Like Gamzee, the elder Nitram was sporting impressive ink of his own; on his right shoulder he had an Asian stylization of the word 'Bangarang,", a master ball on his other shoulder, and across his shoulders were fiery wings.

The car ride lasted an hour, with the city slowly making way for country, and soon Tavros could see outside the window the slow approach of his childhood home. The ranch-style house was like an image out of a painting, sitting on a small hill looking out onto the green fields. They drove beside the white picket fence and pulled into the dirt driveway, noting that there were other cars parked there as well.

"Are we the last ones to get here?" asked Tavros.

"I don't know. Horuss' little brother was supposed to come too, but I don't know if he's here yet," answered Rufioh as he parked the truck. He got out and grabbed the wheelchair from the back, and then he and Gamzee helped him into his chair.

Once he was outside the truck, Tavros breathed in the fresh country air, a smile appearing on his face. Rufioh wheeled him to the front door, Gamzee following once he grabbed his guitar from the truck. The uneven earth made Tavros' chair rattle under him, but the vibrations made him feel like he was home.

"¡Abuelo, estamos aquí!" Rufioh called as they entered the house.

"Rufioh, you're back!" called somebody from the kitchen. Tavros was wondering who that could be when Rufioh tapped his shoulder.

"That's him," Rufioh said excitedly as he wheeled Tavros into the kitchen.

The kitchen was fairly large, with warm yellow, waxy walls, and orange counters. The counters took up two of the walls, only breaking for the refrigerator which was on the right, and the oven/stove on the left. The kitchen sink sat under a window that looked out onto the extensive backyard. There was a little wooden kitchen table in the corner of the room, next to the screen door that led out to the back porch, and sitting in one of the chairs was a tall man who Tavros suspected was Horuss.

"How was your ride?" asked the man as he stood up and walked over to the trio.

"Alright, traffic didn't suck as much as I thought it would," Rufioh replied as he accepted the other man's hug as well as a peck on the cheek. He grinned and turned to Tavros, slipping an arm around the tall man's waist.

"Alright, hermanito, I want you to meet Horuss," Rufioh said. "And doll, this is my little brother, Tavros."

"It's nice to meet you, Rufioh has told me a lot about you," Horuss said.

"I-it's nice to meet you too," Tavros replied. He wasn't sure what he expected Rufioh's boyfriend to look like, and so he didn't know if he was supposed to be surprised or not.

He was surprised to see that Horuss was black, his name giving him an Egyptian vibe. He had light brown skin and was about a foot taller than Rufioh. At first Tavros thought that his long black hair was dreaded, but he realized that it was in numerous tiny braids, which were currently pulled back into a high ponytail. He had very sharp features: high pronounced cheek bones, a narrow jaw, and a long hawk-straight nose, and narrow but kind eyes. He had a swimmer's build, with broad shoulders and built arms, but the rest of him was rather thin.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and what looked like tan overalls with the straps off and around his waist, and thick black work boots.

"I uh, th-think you have something on your pants," Tavros stammered, hoping that his comment wouldn't offend Horuss.

"What?" Horuss looked down at his trousers.

"Oh that!" Horuss took a rag from his back pocket and started dabbing at the black spot on his pants.

"That's just oil. Your grandfather said that his lawnmower was making a rattling noise and I offered to look at it for him."

"Doll don't go working on your day off," Rufioh scolded half-heartedly.

"Oh it was nothing," the black man assured his boyfriend.

"Oh, who's that?" Horuss asked.

Tavros remembered that Gamzee was there too.

"Oh, um this is Gamzee, my uh, roommate," he explained.

"Ah." Tavros could see that Horuss was taking in Gamzee's appearance, much like Rufioh did.

"Nice to meet you too," he said.

"Likewise," said Gamzee.

"Nice um...face," Horuss said hesitantly.

"Thanks man," Gamzee grinned.

"What's it for?"

"What's what for?"

"The paint?"

"Oh. Well, it's for motherfuckin' wearin' on your face."

"Uh-huh…" Tavros was nervously picking at his nails, not wanting to think about what his brother's boyfriend could possibly be thinking.

"S-s-so um...where's abuelo?"

"He's outside grilling," answered Horuss.

"Everyone else is out there too. I only came in for some water."

"Everyone else?"

"Oh yes my brother wished to meet Rufioh, and he came with his little friend, who brought her sister who happens to by my friend as well."

Tavros let this sit as they all went outside.

Outside was the back porch which was painted a rust colour. A large heavy duty grill was smoking with the smells of cooking meat.

"Abuelo!" Rufioh yelled to the older man at the grill, speaking loud in hopes he could be heard over the sound of sizzling meat.

The man turned, and grinned when he spotted Tavros.

"Hay mi muchacho!" he laughed as he closed the lid to the grill.

"Abuelo."

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: THINGS WILL START HAPPENING I SWEAR!**

**So yeah, like I said believe it or not things will start to pick up, especially with Tav and Gam's relationship honhonhon~**

**FYI I don't know if any of you noticed, but I switched the Nitrams from being Puerto Rican to Mexican, it was just a creative choice. It was only mentioned in another chapter (Five I think?) and I edited that already.**

**I hope all the Spanish isn't too much of a pain, because I actually love using it ^^**

**Speaking of which, for those of you who want to know what the heck everyone was saying…**

**Spanish Translations**

**Hermanito: Little brother.**

**¿Qué tal?: What's up?**

**El cielo: The sky**

**¿Quién es él?: Who is he?**

**El es mi compañero de cuarto.: He is my roommate**

**¿¡Qué?!: What?!**

**¡Abuelo, estamos aquí!: Grandpa, we're here!**

**¡Hay mi muchacho!: There's my boy!**

**REVIEWS, FAVS, AND FOLLOWS EQUAL LOVE!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I AM SO SORRY, I PROMISE I'M NOT DEAD!**

**So sorry I have been gone for so long my darlings! School has really been eating up my time, not to mention I been working on my original novel, my new comic series I've started, not to mention I've been catching up on Supernatural! But worry not, I have not given up on this fic! **

**Shoutouts to KirklandsTardisBitch, maniacalSatan Cii-Chan, mapleycanadian, Melidona, and everyone else reading, following, and favouring this fic! Anywho, on with the story!**

Samanuel Nitram was rather good looking for his age, and even though he was pushing 66, he still stood straight and strong. He looked like a stereotypical ex-marine, though according to Rufioh he looked like the Mexican Clint Eastwood. He was wearing worker's blue jeans, and a red flannel shirt unbuttoned over a white t-shirt. He had crow's feet and wrinkles around his mouth that were subdued by his dark skin, tanned leather brown from years of working outside, and his short cropped hair was dark with hints of grey around the roots.

He was a tough as nails sort of guy, joined the marines after dropping out of high school, and after that he had made a name for himself in Mexico as a famous matador; only retiring after an accident almost left him with his innards separated from his torso. He was protective of his family and liked to keep his guns like he kept his sauces; in supply and on hand. All in all, Samanuel was not the kind of guy that one would want to mess with or antagonize, and Tavros knew this very well as he anxiously watched his grandfather eyeing up Gamzee. The frown that followed his lookover was not a good sign.

"Hijo," Samanuel began, with a neutral voice.

"¿Quién es él?"

"He's my roommate," Tavros answered in English. Samanuel's thick brows raised, and Tavros knew that he was about to get a repeat of the speech he got from his brother. Sensing the tension in the air, Rufioh turned to his boyfriend.

"Hey Horuss, why don't you and Gamzee make sure that there's enough plates for everybody?" he suggested.

It took him a moment, but Horuss got the hint and nodded.

"Oh course, Gamzee why don't you follow me?"

"Sure thing motherfucker, I can count plates," said Gamzee as he followed the man inside. Tavros cringed at the scowl his abuelo made at Gamzee's foul language, and then gave his brother a thankful nod.

He looked at his grandfather, who was looking at him disapprovingly. Tavros braced himself for the Latin lecture he was about to get.

"_Abuelo before you say anything-"_

_ "What are you doing hanging around with that criminal?"_

"_Abuel, Gamzee isn't a criminal."_

_ "Well he sure as hell looks like one. What's that shit on his face for?"_

"_He just likes wearing it, abuelo, he's a little eccentric."_

_ "Boy looks like he's on dope."_

"_Abuelo if I could cut in, I was saying the same things too, but he's actually a pretty cool guy once you get to know him."_

_ "Oh shut up, Rufioh, you're one to talk about a person's character. Remember that crazy hussy you use to date?"_

_ "Can we not talk about Damara…?"_

"_Well you were just saying that there's nothing to worry about this hoodlum, but that's just what you said when you were with that crazy china doll-"_

_ "Abuelo!"_

"_Tav, I know you were friends with her sister, and I won't deny that she was a lovely girl, but you agree that that Damara was nothing but trouble."_

_ "W-well y-yeah, but Gamzee's not like that I assure you."_

"_Assuring he's a nice guy doesn't excuse the fact that you didn't tell me about him. How long has he been around anyway?"_

_ "Um w-well about that-"_

"_Five months."_

_ "Rufioh!"_

"_Five months?!"_

Samanuel gripped the tongs in his hand so hard, Tavros was sure that they were going to break. Tavros gulped.

"_You have some explaining to do, young man-"_

"We're back!"

From out of the grove of trees off into the yard came Tavros' saviour and it was the last person he expected.

"Tavros! It's about time you showed up!"

"N-Nepeta?"

The energetic girl came bounding up the porch and hugged the oxygen out of his lungs.

"I was wondering when you were you going to get here!" She giggled at his flabbergasted face. From out of the corner of his eye he saw Samanuel return to grilling, but his expression indicated that this conversation was not over.

"Wh-what are you doing at my h-house?"

"I came here with Equius."

"Equius?"

It appeared the phrase "Speak of the Devil and here shall appear" was correct, because the minute he said his name he saw the brutish man slowly walking over to the porch.

"What are y-y-you doing here?" he asked Equius.

"When my brother informed me of his current relationship, I demanded to meet the man to make sure that my brother was in good hands."

"Wait...brother-" Tavros' eyes widened.

"Y-your Horuss' brother?"

"Indeed."

Now Tavros felt stupid for not seeing the resemblance. Both brothers were almost identical, with Equius being slightly shorter and stockier and Horuss leaner and less imposing.

"Stay here Eq, I think Meu is still back there," said Nepeta as she raced back into the trees.

"Hello, little brother." Tavros turned and saw Horuss and Gamzee emerge from the kitchen carrying plates and utensils.

"How was your little outing?" Horuss asked Equius.

"Oh, they were entertaining themselves," he sighed.

"What were you guys doing out there anyway?" Rufioh asked.

The answer came when Nepeta came barrelling back to the patio, dragging an older girl behind her. Despite never having met, Tavros knew right away that the girl was Nepeta's older sister, Meulin. She was dressed in a black skirt and black Mary Jane's, and a thick green sweater over a grey blouse. She was a bit taller than Nepeta, though that wasn't saying much, and was built much more like a woman than her younger sister.

"Found her!" Nepeta announced as the two girls joined the others.

"Sorry, my hair got stuck on a branch," Meulin said sheepishly. Her fluffy long hair had numerous twigs sticking out of it, which she attempted to comb out of the dark locks. Her speech was slightly slurred, due to her being deaf, but her voice was much more coherent than it had been years prior.

"Look at what we found!" Nepeta squealed. She showed everyone two jars, each containing a caterpillar.

"They dragged you on a bug hunt?" Rufioh smirked to Equius.

The shade-wearing man huffed.

"They required one of my height to reach the higher branches," he explained through gritted teeth.

Tavros had very quickly faded into the background of the social gathering, and settled for quietly observing everyone's conversations. He was used to being ignored in a group, and felt only a small pang at the fact. He looked over at Gamzee and what he saw was strange. The smile that seemed like a permanent resident on the clown's face was gone, replaced by a conflicted expression, and Tavros noted also that he was looking, oddly enough, at Meulin.

"Is everything alright?" Tavros asked.

"Y-yeah, everything's fine," Gamzee said, but his voice was hardly convincing. That was clue number two that something was wrong; no matter what situation he was in, Gamzee always displayed an unwavering confidence, so it was strange to see him look problematic.

"Are you sure-?"

"Hey Tavbro, let's go inside!"

Without warning Gamzee grabbed the handles of Tavros' chair and rushed them inside.

"Gamzee what is going on?" Tavros asked as Gamzee quickly shut the door behind them. The bard ignored him; instead he peeked through the window next to the door.

"Gam, tell me why you're being so weird," Tavros demanded.

"What you talkin' 'bout motherfucker?"

"I s-saw you looking at Meulin, d-do you know her?"

"Well not exactly…"

Gamzee sighed.

"A'ight here's the gist: she used to motherfuckin' date my bro a long-ass time ago, when I was like a lil dude."

"So, wh-what does that have to do with you?" asked Tavros.

"Nothin', except that I'm probably the last motherfucker that she wants to see."

Tavros was about to ask him just what that meant, when lo and behold the screen door opened and in came Meulin, running right into Gamzee.

Meulin made a little sound of surprise, before fixing her skirt.

"So sorry about-" she looked up and when she saw Gamzee her smile fell.

"...that."

There was an awkward silence, and Tavros was not sure what could possibly be the cause of it.

Gamzee surprised Tavros by signing something to Meulin, who quickly responded. The two exchanged more signing until Meulin gave the bard an awkward smile and went back outside.

"What was that all about?" Tavros asked.

"It's nothing man," Gamzee assured him. Tavros was still confused as to what just happened. Since when could Gamzee speak sign language? And what history did he have between Meulin? Without saying anything Gamzee went back outside, and Tavros followed him.

"Um, Gamzee-"

" Hey Tav, what's out there?"

Tavros looked to where Gamzee was pointing and saw it was the big red barn on the other side of the yard.

"Oh, that's where we keep the animals."

"Really? Let's go see!"

"I-I don't know…" Tavros was still hung up on what happened with Meulin, but he found it very hard to say no to the child-like grin on Gamzee's face. Sadly, at that moment he made the mistake of looking at Samanuel, who was subtly casting dark looks at his roommate.

"I mean, I don't think um, abuelo would want just us going out there-"

"Well we won't motherfuckin' know 'til we ask right?"

"Wait Gamzee!"

"Yo, Senor Nitram!"

Mentally Tavros took a split second from his internal panic to appreciate that Gamzee referred to his grandfather as senor rather than motherfucker.

"¿Qué?" Samanuel asked grouchily.

"That means what right?" Gamzee whispered to Tavros.

"Yeah," Tavros whispered back.

"I was wondering if me and Tav could go see the motherfuckin' animals."

"Gamzee!" Tavros whispered frantically.

"What?"

"P-p-please don't use that word while we're here."

"I can't motherfuckin' say motherfucker?"

"W-well if you could try n-not to…"

"_Tavros, what is that clown bastard asking me?"_

Tavros thanked god that Samanuel's English was still not very well.

"_He wants to look at the animals in the barn,"_ he answered.

_"That hoodlum isn't going anywhere near my animals!"_

"_P-please abuelo, h-he won't touch anything."_

_ "Abuelo, what if I went with them?"_ Cut in Rufioh after seeing his little brother flounder. The old man looked back and forth between Rufioh and Gamzee, before sighing.

_"Fine, but keep that guy away from everything," _he warned Rufioh.

"Sí, sí, yo sé," he assured the elder Nitram.

"So did he say yes or not?" Gamzee asked Tavros.

"He did," answered Tavros, choosing to leave out the parts where his grandpa insulted him.

"Come on guys," Rufioh said. He and Gamzee walked down the stairs while Tavros took the custom ramp his grandpa had built into the deck. Rufioh went to push Tavros' chair, but Gamzee beat him to it.

"What are you doing?"

"It's fine Rufioh," Tavros assured him. Rufioh raised a brow, unused to seeing Tavros comfortable with anyone other than him pushing his chair. He said nothing, and showed the two to the barn. The land surrounding the Nitram farm was divided into two parts: the 'home yard' and the 'farm yard.' Their backyard essentially ended at the barn, which was the stereotypical red barn with white accenting around the windows and door, and from then on it was the land dedicated to their animals. Beyond that were fields for their small herd of cattle, and they owned a few pigs.

Tavros was confused when he saw that part of the area behind the barn had been fenced off, which he didn't remember seeing the last time he visited.

"Here we are," said Rufioh as he opened the gate.

"Rufioh, what's this?" Tavros asked.

"Oh yeah, you weren't here when gramps got them."

"W-what's 'them'?"

Instead of answering, Rufioh opened up the barn doors. Tavros' ears were filled by the definitely unmanly squeals of delight coming from Gamzee when the swarm of fur came charging out of the barn.

"Wh-what the-?"

"Ah shit y'all got motherfuckin' goats!"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****I SWEAR THINGS ARE GOING TO PICK UP I SWEAR!**

**I promise that the next chapter will be coming soon, and that it will include some stepping stones in Tav and Gam's relationship! What does that mean exactly? Well, you're just going to have to stay tuned to find out!**

**Spanish Translations:**

**Hijo: **Son.

**¿Quién es él?: **Who is he?

**Sí, sí, yo sé: **Yes, yes, I know.


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**** FINALLY IT'S DONE! Not much to say, just that this chapter took a lot of time, so I hope that you like it. Shoutouts to TotallyAddictedToYaoi, RusherMushroom, Aces-Spades for faving and following, along with everyone else who's been with me for the ride! Not much else to say, except this is gonna be a long chapter people! Any who on with the story!**

"Gamzee?"

"Hehehe."

"Uh Gamzee?"

"Hehe, that motherfuckin' tickles."

"Gamzee we um, need to go."

Tavros didn't know whether to find Gamzee's joy endearing, or be insulted that he was being outdone by a baby goat. As it turned out, his grandpa indeed had some goats on the farm, and was raising them for a local petting zoo. Tavros' ears still rang from Gamzee's reaction to their being swarmed by the fluffy baby animals, but despite that, he couldn't deny that they were indeed very cute. But for Tavros, what took the cake in the matter of cuteness was the sight of the full grown man sitting crossed legged on the ground surrounded by goats, grinning like he was the happiest kid in the world. It was such a bizarrely endearing sight, that Tavros almost didn't want to end it.

Almost.

"Gamzee we need to go now."

Gamzee finally tore his gaze off the goat he was petting, which was currently munching on his shirt, and looked up at Tavros.

"What do you mean we gotta go?" he asked.

"Abuelo finished grilling, so um, we need to eat."

"But Taaaaaav, these dudes need me!"

"Dude, I think they'll be fine," Rufioh said, growing impatient.

"But bros…" One of the goats started licking the paint off the clown's face, and he didn't even acknowledge it.

"Their motherfucking goats!"

"W-we can uh, see them again after we eat if you want," Tavros offered, eyeing the goat licking his face and wondering if the paint was goat-safe.

Gamzee pouted, staring up at the brunet with puppy eyes, which were less effective given that they were red-rimmed from the joint he smoked earlier (Tavros had a fit and scolded his roommate for bringing drugs to his grandfather's house.)

"I promise they will be here when we get back."

Gamzee looked like he wanted to resist more, but instead he sighed in defeat.

"A'ight Tav, just 'cause it's you."

Tavros didn't know why, but that comment made a strange feeling stir in his chest.

"I guess I gotta say my motherfuckin' farewells." Gamzee stood up, not bothering to brush off the hay clinging to his black trousers, and turned to the goats.

"Later bros," he said, sounding more heartbroken than what was really called for.

"Okay, l-let's go Gam."

"I won't forget you, Rodrick!"

"...You named one Rodrick?"

"And don't forget Bongos and Chanticleer."

Rufioh let out a laugh as he wheeled Tavros back to the house.

"Good god hermanito, where did you find this guy?"

"My alley."

The others were finished setting the table by the time the three of them returned. Tavros wheeled himself to the end of the table, and Gamzee took the empty seat beside him. Everyone else took their seats and waited as Samanuel brought over the plate of cubed steaks.

"Dig in," he said. Everyone filled their plates with what they wanted. Tavros watched out of the corner of his eye as the pile on Gamzee's plate kept growing and growing.

"Whoa man, save some for the rest of us," Rufioh said after watching Gamzee take three ears of corn.

"Sorry man, my stomach's on empty." Gamzee rubbed his hands together like an old-timey villain.

"I'm about to tear this shit up."

The conversation died down as the eight people concentrated on their food. Tavros was content, loving the warm atmosphere and good food that came whenever he returned home. He glanced over to where Rufioh was sitting with Horuss. The taller of the two was wiping at a spot of sauce on the corner of Rufioh's mouth, to which the mohawked man thanked him with a kiss. Tavros smiled at the scene. It had been a while since he had seen his brother this happy, and found he and his boyfriend's honeymoon-esque behaviour sweet.

The mood was killed by an obnoxious slurping noise coming from his left. Gamzee had been inhaling his food the whole time, much to the dismay of Tavros, and the disapproving glaring of Samanuel.

"Uh, Gamzee, you might wanna slow down," Tavros whispered.

"Hmm?" Gamzee looked at Tavros, cheeks swollen with steak and mashed potatoes.

"What?" he slurred around his mouthful of food.

"Uh s-slow down please," Tavros whispered again.

_"Tavros tell your jackass pothead to swallow before he talks!"_

"Abuelo!"

"Ey Tav, what did your grandpa say?"

"H-he wished that you'd n-not talk with food in your mouth."

Gamzee had a look like a surprised chipmunk.

"Oh shit, my bad señor!" he mush-mouthed to the oldest Nitram.

It should be common sense that trying to swallow an entire mouth's worth of steak and mashed potatoes is not an easy thing to do. There are certain precautions one must take before attempting such a harrowing task. First, one must swallow a little bit at a time, take time to avoid the food going down the wrong pipe, and also always involve liquids to chase it down and ensure a safe travel to the stomach.

Let it be known that Gamzee did none of these things.

As a result, Gamzee was left hunched over sounding like he was choking on his lungs as he attempted to not asphyxiate himself. Tavros flailed around not knowing what to do, but Gamzee solved that for him. After beating on his chest like a spastic gorilla, Gamzee managed to down his food.

"Woo!" Gamzee exclaimed as if he'd just won a race.

"Shit man, I thought I was gonna motherfuckin' die." He wiped the mashed potatoes that had come out of his nose with no shame.

"Good food though, even though it almost motherfuckin' killed me."

Tavros said nothing, but he fearfully glanced over to the rest of the silent table. Everyone was staring at them, trying to hide the awkwardness in their eyes; except for Samanuel who was blatantly glaring at Gamzee with disdain.

Tavros laughed nervously.

"C-can someone pass the corn?"

Despite the collective decision to not talk about it, the rest of the afternoon was subtly stained by the display at lunch. Tavros wanted to be mad at Gamzee for being such a slob and not helping to improve his abuelo's opinion of him, but he couldn't find it in himself to blame the clown, even if it was totally his fault. There was just something that Tavros couldn't describe, that made him so quick to forgive the strange man. He was generally meek and would let things go if it meant avoiding conflict, aka he was a pushover, but afterwards he would still harbour feelings of resentment. With Gamzee though, despite all the crazy shit Tavros put up with, his antics and bad behaviour rolled off the Hispanic young man like raindrops on a raincoat.

This mulled in Tavros' head as he tried to come up with some way of removing his abuelo's disapproval of his roommate. He began to fear that this would be impossible as the afternoon went on, especially when the subject of Gamzee's employment came up.

He continued to busk like he did before miving in with Tavros, exceot now that he had oermanent living arrangments he was able to set up in a park that was known for having street preformers; he couldn't have prior due to tight patrols around the park and a lack of bumming space near it. The upside to this was that he now played his guitar to an audience with the intent of seeing buskers such as himself. The downside was that there was some competition for tips. Nevertheless, Gamzee was happy just to play his music for the masses, and he managed to bring in decent money every week, which he saved in a jar Tavros got for him.

However, as far as Samanuel was concerned, the bard was still mooching off of Tavros' paychecks, despite his assurances that Gamzee wasn't a mooch and did contribute.

That conversation had Tavros desiring to take a break from his abuelo's scrutiny. What ended up happening was all the kids migrating to the goat pen, Gamzee not the only one with a desire to pet adorable furry creatures. Gamzee, Nepeta, and Meulin fawned over the goats while emitting sounds that would upset most dogs, Equius had gone inside to get himself some milk, and Tavros wasn't sure where Rufioh and Horuss had run off to; though he suspected that they were making out behind the barn. Tavros was watching his roommate playing with the goats when he sensed the presence of a certain cat-girl beside him.

"So that's Gamzee hmmm~?"

Tavros looked over and saw Nepeta grinning impishly.

"You've waited this long to say that?"

"Well I had to get you alone silly!" she grinned.

"He's a lot taller than I imagined."

"I told you he was tall."

"Yeah, I know that, but still, I didn't think he'd be that tall!"

Nepeta turned her attention back to Tavros, who found himself unable to read her expression.

"Um, why are you staring at me, Nep?

"I'm trying to determine whether you two have done it yet."

Tavros sputtered, and had he been drinking. he would have done a spit-take.

"Nepeta!" he gasped, feeling himself blush.

"We are just roommates!"

Nepeta looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Tavvy-poo, I know a ship when I see one, heck I have a whole marina at my disposal, and what I see right now is the S.S PBJ just waiting to set sail."

"For the last time we are- wait S.S PBJ? Where do you get PBJ?"

"Because! Gamzee loves purple, and you are sweet and brown!"

Tavros would have further emphasized the platonic nature of his and Gamzee's relationship, as well as touch on the borderline racism of that last comment, but a sudden rumbling noise caught everyone's attention.

"Did you guys hear that?" Rufioh and Horuss came running from the other side of the barn. Tavros quickly noted Rufioh's shirt was on backwards and that Horuss' ponytail was messed up, but another skyward rumble became more important than calling his older brother out.

"What's wrong?" Meulin asked.

"There's thunder," Nepeta explained to her deaf sister. The sky had been growing significantly gloomier all day, but nobody had thought about it until now.

"I think it would be best if we went inside," said Horuss, eyeing the sky warily. They quickly shepherded the goats into the barn and started for the house. A sudden chest-wracking burst of lightning, followed by immediate rain had the group rushing inside. Tavros' body jolted over the uneven ground as Gamzee pushed his chair for him. Another bolt of lightning made Gamzee let out a stream of curses, and he started sprinting towards the house, leaving everyone else in the dust.

Tavros held onto the arms of his chair as he begged Gamzee to slow down, but the clown did not listen. They were yards ahead of the others by the time they made it into the kitchen. Gamzee was huffing from his exertion, Tavros from the panic.

"We were just about to go get you," said Equius as he and Samanuel entered the kitchen.

"¿Dónde están los demás?" asked Samanuel. His question was answered when the others came running inside.

"¡Mierda! It's really coming down," Rufioh gasped, trying to resurrect his ruined mohawk.

"I knew it would start storming," Samanuel commented, looking out the rain covered window.

"How long do you believe the rain will last?" asked Horuss.

"Hold on," Rufioh checked his phone. "Great, it's going to go all night."

"_All right then. Tavros, I don't want you going home in that rain, your brother's a shit driver as it is."_

"What the heck?" Rufioh complained.

"_You know it's true,"_ The elder Nitram looked at the others.

"If any of you four also want to wait out the weather, you're free to stay as well.

So what started out as an afternoon visit became a sleepover at the Nitram house. The sleeping arrangements were as such: Nepeta and Meulin shared the guest bedroom, Rufioh and Horuss (after Rufioh swore to his abuelo using every deity he could think of that no sexy times would occur) slept in Rufioh's bedroom, Equius took the couch in the living room, and Tavros and Gamzee had Tavros' old room.

As Tavros wheeled into his room, towelling his hair dry from his recent shower, he looked around the room fondly. His childhood bedroom was a visual representation of himself as a youth. The bright orange walls were covered in posters of video games and cartoons, mostly Pokémon, and some of his old drawing littered almost every surface. The lights were out, which confused Tavros as he didn't remember shutting them off, however the light in his closet was still on, which dimly lit the room.

Sitting with his back to him was Gamzee, clad in only his purple boxer, sitting cross-legged on the air mattress Rufioh had salvaged from the closet. Tavros' jaw dropped when he saw the puff of smoke floating above Gamzee's head.

"Gamzee?!" Tavros gasped.

"Are you smoking?"

Gamzee didn't respond, and the fuming Tavros wheeled himself over to the musician.

"I can't believe you! After you promised you wouldn't do that stuff while we're here!"

Tavros grabbed his shoulder.

"Are you fucking-" Tavros' eyes widened. "…listening?"

Tavros could feel how tense Gamzee was under his fingers, but it was the look on his face that had Tavros frozen. Looking into his dark blue eyes, all Tavros could see was pure panic, and Gamzee's hand shook as he held the blunt to his trembling lips.

"Gamzee?"

"I-I'm fine," Gamzee stammered, but his face was the exact opposite of his weak assurance.

"Gamzee what's wrong?"

"I told you I'm motherfucking fine!" Gamzee snapped, his dark blue eyes burning. The look on Tavros' face at the unexpected hostility was enough to make Gamzee's glare crumble into horror.

"Aw shit Tav," he choked, guilt filling his voice.

"I-I I'm so sorry, fuck I-" A sudden strike of lightning seared across the sky and lit the room, making Gamzee flinch. Realization settled on Tavros.

"Gamzee, are you afraid of storms?" he asked calmly.

Gamzee forced himself to chuckle nervously.

"Wh-who me? N-no man there ain't no way-" Without warning a violent crack of thunder shook the room, and Gamzee let out a scream that nearly stopped Tavros' heart.

"FUUUUUCK!" Gamzee clung to Tavros so tight he couldn't breathe.

"Gamzee!"

"Nonononononononono," Gamzee murmured madly.

"P-please, calm down." Gamzee was shaking, and Tavros didn't know what to do. The bard groped around the air mattress until his fingers found the blunt he dropped.

"Gamzee no put that out," Tavros urged.

"Need it. It'll all be fine…" Gamzee muttered, more to himself than to Tavros, as he brought the joint to his lips. Tavros grew anxious when Gamzee continued to breathe in the drug without any sign of exhaling. He grabbed Gamzee's much larger hand and used all his strength to pull it and the joint away from his mouth. The whole time Gamzee remained unaware, until the joint was ripped from his lips and he let out a stream of sputtering coughs along with an unhealthy amount of smoke.

"Sh-shit," he sputtered, clutching his chest.

"Gamzee, listen to me." Tavros grabbed both sides of the clown's face and forced Gamzee to look at him. The Turk's eyes were round with childlike fear, making Tavros' chest tighten at the sight. What also revealed the severity of this situation was the fact that Gamzee was devoid of his face paint, exposing his scars to the world without his apparent notice.

"Are you listening to me?"

He still looked panicked, but Gamzee managed to nod stiffly.

"A-alright, tell me what's scaring you, is it the lightning?"

Gamzee gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing. "N-no."

Another bolt of lightning made the bard whimper.

"So is it the thunder?"

"Mhm," Gamzee nodded, growing more and more anxious at the anticipation for what always followed lightning.

"Okay, okay…" Tavros bit his lip, unsure of what to do. He thought back to after his accident, when he was prone to panic attacks, what his brother had done to calm him down.

"What are you thinking right now?" he asked.

He let out a shuddering breath. "I want them to stop."

"What?"

Thunder roared again and Gamzee yelped, burying his face into Tavros' lap.

"Make them stop," he groaned pitifully. Tavros wanted to blush at the rather compromising position, but now was not the time to be thinking of himself.

"Do you want to lie down?" asked Tavros. Gamzee nodded.

"Alright um, you can use my bed."

Tavros tapped the bard's shoulder.

"Come on, can you stand?" Shakily, Gamzee stood up, and with zombie-like movements he trudged to the bed. As he did that Tavros threw away the joint in his hand and then wheeled himself over to the bed. Gamzee had his back turned to him, curled up in a fetal position. Tavros paused, second-guessing what he was about to do.

"U-uh I'm gonna-I mean c-c-could I…" Tavros breathed in through his nose and, feeling like he was tiptoeing on glass, slowly eased himself onto the bed. Feeling the bed dip from his weight, Gamzee turned his head to Tavros, his eyes wide and puzzled.

"Um I hope you d-don't mind. I th-thought-" Tavros gasped when Gamzee pounced on him, wrapping him in a vice grip and pulling him down beside him.

Despite his heart beating like a jackhammer, Tavros remained stiffly calm, knowing that anything sudden could provoke his panicked roommate. Tavros looked at Gamzee and was met with eyes staring intently at him.

"What?" he murmured.

"C-can we just, stay like this man?" Gamzee asked. Tavros blinked.

"S-sure thing, Gam."

"Thanks man," Gamzee murmured. He shifted so that his chin rested on top of Tavros' head.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Tavros."

Tavros blushed, hoping that Gamzee couldn't feel the heat in his face from his cheek pressed up against the musician's chest. After his initial embarrassment, Tavros began to relax, even going as far as to wiggle his arms from out of Gamzee's grip to place one hand on his back, and the other in the Turk's thick mane of curls.

"R-Rufioh would mess with my hair when I was having an episode," Tavros explained, hoping he wasn't making this even weirder. The gesture was well received, as the tension in Gamzee's frame immediately relaxed, and the tremors racking his body began to fade. They stayed like that for a while; Gamzee's lanky arms draped around Tavros' waist as the handicapped man stroked his hair and rubbed his back. Whenever another round of thunder boomed, Tavros was quick to shush the Turk and help him ride out the panic, leading him back into a calmer state.

At some point, Tavros could hear Gamzee muttering something indistinguishable.

"What?" he whispered.

"...seviy…"

Confused, Tavros looked down and saw that the clown's eyes were closed, and that he was just mumbling in his sleep. Despite feeling like it bordered on being creepy, Tavros took the opportunity to observe his sleeping companion. He appeared totally peaceful, as if the dark emotions that had twisted his features never happened at all. His dark mane spilled across his forehead and cheek, a lone curl tickling his nose, causing him to scrunch it up in discomfort. Tavros brushed his hair out of his face, accidentally brushing against one of Gamzee's scars. Tavros retracted his hand, waiting to see if Gamzee would awaken. Fortunately he didn't, but Tavros was still conflicted.

Gamzee took great pains to hide his scars, even from Tavros. After showers he put on his face paint before he even put on his clothes, and he tended to sleep in it as well; Tavros always wondered how that never caused him to have breakouts, but his olive skin was flawless save for the three lines the bard was always hiding. Tavros had only seen them the first night they met, and he suspects that was only because Gamzee was delirious from the cold and lack of food.

It felt almost like a betrayal touching the scar, but despite this Tavros found himself brushing his thumb along the longest of the scars. The thin lines were pink around the edges, growing whiter in the middle, and up close they stood out against the Turk's toned skin. Aside from the skin being slightly raised, the scar was not as rough as Tavros imagined them to be. Tavros has to wonder why Gamzee made a grunting noise and began to shift. Tavros feared he'd been caught, but with a snore, the still sleeping Gamzee only turned more on his side, sprawling more over Tavros and forcing the Mexican to turn his head lest he get a mouthful of curls. Gamzee settled once more, and Tavros turned his head back since his current position was hurting his neck.

The brunet's eyes widened and his heart began to pound. Due to Gamzee's shift, his face was now closer to Tavros'.

A **lot**closer.

The Turk's large nose brushed against his, and Tavros could feel Gamzee's breath ghost over his cheek.

_"Why is he so close?" _Tavros thought to himself nervously. He tried scooting further away, but Gamzee's arms made moving futile. In fact, Tavros' movements made Gamzee subconsciously hug Tavros even tighter, much to his embarrassment.

_"Oh god," _Fire was burning in his cheeks as his forehead touched that of his sleeping roommate's.

_"This is too close, to close! Oh gosh if either of us moves any more we'd be kissing-"_

Tavros' eyes went wide as dinner plates, a chill going down his spine just as his face blazed even hotter, but it wasn't his thought of him and Gamzee kissing that had him freezing up.

It was that he almost wished it would actually happen.

_"Holy crap where did that come from?!" _ The handicapped man's eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere BUT the clown that was conjuring naughty thoughts in his head.

_"Friend, friend, Gamzee is my FRIEND,"_ Tavros chanted in his head as he tried stuffing down these sudden feelings he was having for the bard. But in his attempts to stuff them away, they were simply added to the large pile of similar thoughts and emotions that had been stockpiling for a while now.

He made the mistake of looking back at Gamzee, his rediscovered feelings now shedding light on the subtle thoughts he'd so long kept himself oblivious to.

Like how his scars didn't make him any less handsome, how the dimple on the right side of his mouth was more pronounced when he smiled, which was all the time, or how his eyes were the prettiest blue he'd ever seen and how he secretly loved how soft Gamzee's hair was and how much he enjoyed running his fingers through it.

_'B-but that means nothing right?' _Tavros asked himself. It was obvious that Gamzee was attractive, it was like thinking a celebrity was good-looking, or like admiring a painting, right? That excuse might have worked if it was just that.

But unfortunately Tavros couldn't stop himself from thinking about how when he was around Gamzee he felt this warmth that he felt with nobody else; how when Tavros would talk he knew that Gamzee was actually listening, how he could always make Tavros laugh, how his singing filled Tavros' being like a marvellous infection, how in so short a time this strange man broke through almost all of the barriers Tavros built over the years, and how Tavros realized that these five months with the bard had been the happiest Tavros could remember.There was no way he could hide it any longer; Tavros liked to Gamzee.

And with that in mind, Tavros was back where he was, inches away from Gamzee's chapped, but still totally kissable, lips. He gulped, battling with himself and his consciousness. He had no idea what came over him, but somehow he found himself nervously closing his eyes, slowly leaning in with lips pursed…

…just in time for Gamzee to roll onto his other side, releasing Tavros from his grip. Tavros lay there, listening to the sound of Gamzee's snores, the absence of Gamzee's arms weighing on him more than the lumbering clown's weight itself.

With a sigh, Tavros rolled over with his back to Gamzee, guilt and disappointment muddling together and tasting bitter in his mouth. Outside the thunder had died down, leaving only the gentle pattering of rain on the roof tops, and inside Gamzee's soft snoring went in and out like a rumbling metronome. Neither of these things comforted Tavros, as he forced himself into a troubled sleep.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****OMG ROMANCE STUFF! Finally we got to see some legit romance, even if one of the two was asleep for it XD So I want to know what you guys think: did you guys like this chap? What do you think I should do in the future? Any ideas will be really helpful!**

**Spanish Translations:**

**Mierda: ****Shit**

**¿Dónde están los demás?****: Where are the others?**


End file.
